LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Shelf ...Gl-'^ 5 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



ORIGIN OF SIN 



AND 



DOTTED WORDS 



IN THE 



HEBREW BIBLE, 



BY 

EMILY OLIVER GIBBES, 



r 

NEW YORK : 
Copyright, 1893, by 

CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM & CO., 
766 Broadway. 

1893- 



^'\ 






.&A5 



PREFACE. 

" In thy Light shall ive see light." 

" Come my soul, thou must be waking, 

Nozv is breaking 
O'er the earth another day. 
Come to him who made this splendor ; 

See thou render 
All thy feeble strength can pay" 

This hymn was sung in church to-day, and I 
thought, the day now breaking is a day such as we 
read of in the Bible ; not a day of twenty-four hours, 
but a day which means the commencement of a 
certain time, the commencement of a time of new 
thoughts and advancement of thought, granted to 
waking souls, or waking minds. And I thought, now 
is breaking this day for me ; and it is breaking o'er 
all the earth, therefore to Him w^ho made this inward 
light, and grants this light to every soul. I will 
render all my feeble strength can pay. I will search 
for new thoughts on the old truths, and what I think \ 
find I will try to give to others. 

I looked round this church and saw how many 
many women were there, ho-^few men — it was women, 
then, who were there to pray and to them came the 

[iii] 



IV PREFACE. 

answers of the prayers. And with these women I 
prayed this prayer : *' Almighty God, unto whom all 
hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no 
secrets are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by 
the inspirations of Thy Holy Spirit, that we may per- 
fectly love Thee, and worthily magnify Thy Holy 
Name, through Christ our Lord." 

And this prayer I hope will be answered in this 
work of mine. In the light which Christ brought 
to this world, may I find light, and into my open 
heart may He send by the inspiration of the Holy 
Spirit new thoughts by which I may magnify His 
Name, and understanding the deep thoughts of the 
Bible, so that I may give them rightly to this world. 



DIAMONDS IN METEORIC IRON. 

This journal, as well as nearly every daily and 
weekly paper m the United States, has had notices 
of the discovery of diamonds in meteoric iron. 
Prof. A. E Foote, of Philadelphia, recently read a 
paper announcing this discovery at the meeting of 
the American Association for the Advancement of 
Science. From this we learn that the diamonds are 
small but plainly visible. They are the hardest vari- 
ety known — the black diamonds used for pointing 
diamond drills. A small white diamond was also 
found. Why has so much interest been shown in 
this discovery which has been anticipated for many 
years ? Because, Professor Foote claims, it confirms 
the theory advanced by Sir William Thompson, 



preface!. V 

twenty years ago, that the first germs of life were 
brought to this globe by meteors. Diamonds, like 
coal, are supposed to result from changes occurring 
in vegetable matter ; and if plants existed, then there 
may have been animal life ; — and so we may have 
approached one step nearer the solution of the ques- 
tion to which the wisest brains have given so much 
thought for ages. The geological source of dia- 
monds themselves has never been satisfactorily 
explained. They are scattered all over the world 
in unexpected places without any apparent reason. 
It was suggested by the Washington geologists that 
they came from decomposed meteors that had been 
falling on the surface of the earth for unknown cen- 
turies, and that even the great deposits at Kimber- 
ley were due to enormous masses that had fallen 
there producing curious sink-holes similar to the 
** crater" on the side of which Professor Foote found 
the most of the pieces at Canon Diablo. Professor 
Foote's complete paper may be found in the Ameri- 
can Journal of Science and Arts for November. — Popu- 
lar Science News for December. 

I think that the garden of Eden was not on this 
earth ; the fall of man means that evil was banished 
from Heaven. Christ said to his f oUow^ers : " I beheld 
Satan, as lightning, fall from heaven.*' Satan, then, 
was once in heaven. In the above we read : Sir W. 
Thompson says " that the first germs of life were 
brought to this globe by meteors.'* Eden is heaven 
and those who wrote Genesis could form no better 
idea of heaven than a garden ; theyj^new by inspir- 
ation that evil was in the world, and that the soul 
within their sinful human body had been banished 



from happiness, and was a spark from goodness, 
from light and happiness, and that their souls or 
spirits were like diamonds in the meteoric iron 
spoken of by Sir William Thompson. The soul of 
man, which was only restored to consciousness and 
life when after years his body had evolved from 
the lowest animal life then understood when this 
was so that God existed and that mankind had at 
some distant time fallen from heaven, which he 
called Eden. Christ has told us that God is a Spirit ; 
therefore, when we say man was made in the 
image of God, we should understand man's spirit 
and not his human body — those who wrote Genesis 
understood this, as they say God breathed upon 
man and man became (then) a living soul. 

Satan means Sin. If Adam and Eve were ban- 
ished from Heaven (Eden), Satan, or Sin, is within 
us — that is, in our flesh, which we get from Adam. 
The image of God can not be our bodies of clay, 
which die, for nothing of God can die. Jesus took 
upon him our body of clay, and as He had a double 
nature, spiritual and material, the temptation was 
the struggle between these two ; the race of Adam 
banished to this planet, and reduced to mere atoms 
of life, rose frem one stage to another, until they 
became capable of seeking to return to God. Then 
Christ came to help them and to show them the 



Way, and to show that the spiritual, God's image 
within us, or Souls, can by suffering overcome the 
material of which our bodies are made. Satan, sin, 
is within us — the same as Christ said the kingdom of 
Heaven is within us. The seeking of self caused 
the fall of Adam from Eden — the seeking of self 
runs all through his race on this earth ; be they civ- 
ilized, or be they barbarians, the seeking of self was 
the Sin of Satan — other words only for Adam and 
Eve. Jesus did not '* humiliate the Divinity to the 
devil " by the temptation in the wilderness, for it 
was in the glorious strength of his Divine nature, in 
the knowledge of the power to overcome evil, that 
He met for us the temptation. 

Sin was driven from Heaven, banished to this 
earth ; hence sin has been always on tliis earth, and 
will be on this earth as long as this earth is alive. 

We who are born on this earth, are born on an 
earth, or star, or planet, of sin. The prince of this 
earth is sin or Self. 

Jesus said : " I beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from 
heaven." This He said when the seventy said to 
Him, " Lord, even the devils are subject unto us 
through Thy name." ** Devils " means evils of 
all sorts. These seventy had healed the sick ; the 
illness, and the evil which caused the illness, they 
could banish through the name of Jesus, 



viii PREFACE. 



Sin, then, came to this earth when repulsed froni 
Heaven, and will always be here, and will always 
fight the good that is in the world. We think it is 
best for mankind to be ignorant of some things. 
Sin will, through ignorance, cause mankind to sin. 
If we think it best to grow in knowledge. Sin will 
cause us to sin through knowledge. What then 
must we do ? We must watch, and by knowledge 
by intelligence, rise above sin. 

When I say that our human nature we get from 
Satan — that is, our flesh and blood nature, — do not 
misunderstand me to say that God did not make 
this world. God made all things, and He made this 
planet with all other planets, the sun, and moon, and 
stars. Do you know the history of the moon ? We 
are told that it is dead, yet it follows on God's law — 
and those who may have lived on it are alive no 
more — yet the moon revolves, and reflects light. 

That the race of mankind are on this earth does 
not affect this earth, the laws of this planet go on 
the same, we have nothing to do with these laws, 
we cannot change them in the least. Sin, or Satan, 
as you wish to call it, was driven to this earth from 
Heaven, and that life which must die came here in 
that way. Pray do not misunderstand me ! In our 
flesh and blood body we are not, we can not be of the 
Image of God — for God is a Spirit 



CONTENTS. 



BOOK I. 

Page 
Origin of Sin 13 

BOOK It. 
The Dotted Words in the Hebrew Bible 61 

BOOK III. 
The Religions of the East of this day 87 

BOOK IV. 
Reflections 99 

BOOK V. 
The Christian Religion 137 

BOOK VI. 
Jesus Christ 147 

BOOK VII. 
Science 171 



X Contents. 

BOOK VIII. 



• 



Page 
The Women of the Old Testament i8i 

BOOK IX. 
The Women of the New Testament 217 

BOOK X. 
Songs of the Women of the Bible 295 

BOOK XI. 
The Prayer-Book 303 



BOOK I. 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 

[xi] 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 



THE FALL OF ADAM AND EVE. 

In these days of growing unbelief in the Bible, and 
even in God's word, it is the duty of those who are 
loyal and true to God to give their thoughts to the 
world in which we live ; so I am here giving mine 
in great humility, for I shall speak of the things 
which are hard to understand, but which all who 
have any mind whatever should think out for them- 
selves always with prayer to God for right direction. 
Trusting, then, that He is helping me by the whis- 
pers of the Spirit to my listening mind, I take cour- 
age to write the following. 

The Origin of Sin. 

Christ, when teaching his disciples, told them that 
He *' had many things to tell them, but that they 
could not bear them then." They had so much diflEi- 
culty in comprehending the Spiritual teachings of 
Christ, that He had to teach them by parables, and 
by earthly things as examples to make their earthly 

[13J 



14 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

minds understand. But Christ did not mean that we 
should remain so dull of understanding, so ignorant 
of His spiritual teachings, ** that he may run that 
readeth it." We are to search the Scriptures, for 
Christ told us to do so, because, as He said, they 
testify of Him. Therefore, whosoever doubts about 
Christ, let her first search the Scriptures, with her 
mind totally /r^^ from all views and dogmas and 
prejudices of other people. 

This is what I am trying to do in telling you my 
idea of the origin of sin, and the reason that it is, 
and always has been, on this earth. 

Christ tells his disciples that He saw Satan fall 
from Heaven like lightning. His words were : " I 
beheld Satan, as lightning, fall from heaven." 
Satan fneans Sin, To this earth Satan fell, broken to 
pieces. Having once been in Heaven there was 
within Satan the germ of the life which lives in 
Heaven — the spark that never dies. Satan, then, 
was reduced to nothing but the pulsating heart, 
which science tells us is the point to which they can 
trace back life on this earth — a pulsating heart on a 
muddy beach. This pulse of life, then, may have 
come to this earth in this way This pulse science 
traces back from man, through animals, plants, and 
other things. We can understand very well that this 
pulse can be traced up to mankind. We are, then, 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 16 

in the body direct descendants of Satan, and from 
him we get all sin and evil, and, besides, we get the 
spark of life which can not die, but which can, and 
which did grow stronger in mankind, until ** men 
began to call upon the name of God," and as the 
spark of life grew stronger, God breathed upon 
mankind and gave them their Souls — the Image of 
God — ** for God is a Spirit," said Christ (whose 
words I shall take for the authority of what I am 
writing) and no flesh and blood can be the Image of 
God. Nothing in which evil dwells can be the Image 
of God — nor did God ever create anything in which 
were sin and evil and call it good. The story of 
Adam and Eve is an allegory or symbol, and we are 
to hunt for its meaning. Adam and Eve were the 
race of mankind when life evolved to the state we now 
have, called mankind, and to whom God gave " liv- 
ing souls " — " and man became a living soul." The 
words " God breathed upon man," when man 
became a living soul, were used by the writer to 
make us understand the invisible nature of the 
soul, — the same as Christ said, " the wind bloweth 
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof 
but cannot tell from whence it cometh or whither it 
goes ; so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 
Also, when the apostles received the Spirit — or 
Holy Ghost — a aound like a mighty rushing wind 



16 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

filled the place. So we understand that the breath 
of God means the Spirit of God, — the Soul given to 
mankind. 

Now, what was the sin of Satan ? 

Eden means, in my mind, Heaven j ^^ Adam and 
Eve," the race of men and women banished from 
Heaven to this earth. The story says : " Banished 
from Eden " — Heaven. The tree of knowledge of 
good and evil, which they ate of, was the sin of creat- 
ing : that is, they had a child after their own image. 
I do not believe that GodsdiiAy ^Mncrease and multi- 
ply and fill the earth," for this reason : God never 
commanded evil and sin to increase. All animal 
nature, in which there is power to increase and mul- 
tiply, have in them, evil and sin. Search and see ! 
Can you find any living thing or being in which 
there is not sin and evil ? Do you think that God 
has told us to increase and multiply that sin and evil ? 
Eve y^di.^ punished in the story of the creation ; in this 
way : " In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children." 
And her first child was not born in Eden^ also he was 
a murderer and a liar. Christ said, *' Satan was 
from the beginning a murderer and a liar." Cain 
lied in his offering to God, and murdered his 
brother. 

The punishment to Satan's descendants in the flesh 
is the necessity to increase and multiply in the 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 



flesh, as all flesh does, and will do to the end of the 
world (Only those who have strong souls can over- 
come the flesh). Christ has told ns that at the end 
of the world there will be marrying and giving in 
marriage. The curse of increasing sin remains to 
the end of the world and is only excused by Christ's 
blessing marriage at the marriage at Cana. He 
sanctified it by His presence and afterwards gave 
the limits which alone would receive His blessing. 
The limits you will find in what He says about 
divorce and marriage. 

At the marriage in Cana, which Christ honored 
with His presence, He also showed the first sign of 
His power. The turning of water into wine has a 
deeper meaning than the mere fact of the water 
being made wine. All of Christ's miracles and words 
had a spiritual meaning, and those spiritual mean- 
ings it is our duty to search out. We may not be 
able fully to search out all the meaning, but as we 
have advanced in knowledge in other things so far 
beyond those who lived years ago, so should we 
advance in knowledge of spiritual things, and not 
remain exactly where they were in such knowledge. 

The word of God is the word spoken by Christ, and 
also by the Prophets — such as the ten Command- 
ments, which Christ confirmed. But, as I said 
before, it is Christ'$ \yords which I tak^ as my guide 



18 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

in these thoughts. Therefore, I think this water 
means baptism, the wine a new and stronger life. 
This marriage, then, was different from all mar- 
riages before it, for they were only carnal, the 
same as all animal life. As the weak water was 
turned to strong wine, so the weak human nature 
was turned to strong nature, and the marriage was 
raised on to a higher plane. Now I go back to the 
origin of sin. We have a way of calling this earth 
^* God's world," yet ChrivSt said that the Prince of 
this world h^6. nothing in Him, that is, in Christ. This 
world is Satan's. When Christ was tempted by 
Satan, Satan showed him all the glories of this world, 
and said, " all these things will I give thee, for that 
is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I 
give it.'' Therefore, this world is Satan's, the king- 
doms and the glory of this world, and the power, all 
are Satan's, and the lie of Satan was in that he said 
he could create good the same as God. (Read the 
story of Adam and Eve.) Satan hid from God, for 
he had created evil — for look at the race he created, 
are we good or evil ? Satan was a murderer, for he 
created death — nothing on this earth lives, all things 
die. Satan could not create a Soul, he created 
nothing but sinful flesh. God gave us the Soul, 
This is the reason of the never ending battle 
between animal life in us and the >soli1 in us. The 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 19 

animal life we get from Satan, and it must die, God 
never made evil and sin. The soul is from God and 
can never die, it must conquer in the fight and over- 
come the animal in us, that is, overcome Satan, 

Satan being once in heaven had within him the 
life \hdX cannot die J he was reduced on this earth after 
the fall to a living pulse of life. Science tells how 
slowly that pulse emerged through the lowest life 
up to mankind, and mankind slowly emerged from 
animal life only and animal inclinations, until it was 
fit for the growth or the life of the soul — that spark 
of life which lived in Satan and lives in his descend- 
ants, which we all are. When God breathed on 
mankind, the spark received life and became a liv- 
ing soul, and cannot die. Our bodies of flesh and 
blood we get from Satan ; hence the sin in us and in 
this world, hence the suffering in this world from 
which none are exempt, hence the power and 
triumph of evil and sin, the inclination to evil and 
sin, evil thoughts, which cease not to war against 
the soul so long as the soul is imprisoned in the 
flesh. And when mankind turned to God. for help 
in this struggle, in His great compassion for these 
struggling atoms of the life once in heaven, He 
sent to us His Son. Christ called Himself the Son 
of God in the same way that He used many earthly 
things to make plain His teachings to those who 



20 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

heard Him. HivS strong Spirit was the son of God. 
His body, like ours, being of mankind, was the son 
of mankind, yet without sin, being born only of a 
pure virgin. He was a pure, strong Spirit or Soul 
from God, sent, and willing to come and dwell in the 
body of flesh, to show to all mankind that the spirit 
within them was able to conquer the flesh if they 
took the way He showed them. He says, ^I am the 
way." Being in the flesh He was tempted by Satan 
the same as we are — for Wi^ flesh is Satan — but Christ 
conquered in the flesh all the temptations of the 
devil — for in that flesh dwelt the strong Spirit of 
God. He died as all flesh must and does die. I also 
believe that that flesh being so purified by the Strong 
Spirit of God, " saw not corruption," and so was not 
given to this earth and to the Prince of this earth, 
who is Satan. The sin of Satan, as I have said before, 
was the art of creating, expressed in the story of 
Adam and Eve, the serpent, and the fruit eaten. 
We are told no child was born in Eden, and sin and 
evil are always being created on this earth. 

Christ often tells his disciples that He (Christ) is 
not of this earth. He tells them that they are from 
beneath (that is, of this earth), that He is from 
above, that is, from Heaven. Christ also tells some 
of His hearers that they are of their father the 
Devil He eveij says this to those who claim 



oRiaiN oi^ SIX. 21 

Abraham as their father — that is, the chosen race of 
Jews. If these Jews, who were truly the chosen race, 
were descendants of the Devil, it was because they 
were only flesh and blood. Their souls had no 
power over their animal natures. 

Now, a great many good people are shaken in their 
faith because, as they say, God permits sin to be on 
this earth. In a certain way they accuse God of the 
sin which has always been on this earth, and 
will be to the end of the world ; for this earth 
is Satan's — therefore the wicked prosper here, and 
the good suffer. God, in His great mercy and good- 
ness, sent the willing Christ, the pure Spirit of God, 
to take the body of flesh and blood from a pure Vir- 
gin, and He was born in a stable^ which typifies the 
descent of mankind. And He lived the human life to 
show us the way back to Heaven, and to suffer for 
us in that flesh, and to tell us that it is only through 
what this world calls suffering, — that is, suffering to 
the flesh inherited from Satan, and which is the 
nature of flesh, — it is only in that way, that is the 
way Christ showed us, — only in that wa}^ can our 
souls, which are a spark from Heaven, ever return 
to Heaven. 

COMMUNION OF CHRIST. THE PASSOVER. 

Christ blessed the bread, broke it and gave it to 
His disciples, saying : '* Take, eat, this is my body." 



22 ORIGIN O^ SIK. 

And He took the cup, saying : ** Drink ye all of it, 
for this is my blood, shed for many, for the remis- 
sion of sins. I will not drink of this fruit of the vine, 
until that day when I drink it new with you in my 
Father's kingdom." Christ kept the Passover, that 
feast which called to remembrance that God passed 
over the children of Israel when all the first-born 
died in Egypt— and at that feast He (Christ) changed 
the Passover to the Passover of our natural sins, 
that is, that all who believe in Christ and His death 
and ascension, who accept Christ as their leader, 
and by the help of the Spirit overcome or struggle 
to overcome their natural sins in the flesh, will be 
passed over for Christ's sake in the judgment to 
come. Those who obey and are faithful and true 
to the inward conscience, which is in all of us, will 
be judged with others, but will also he passed over, as 
the children of Israel were passed over by the angel 
of death in Egypt. 

When Christ said the bread was His body and the 
wine His blood, I understand Him to mean, this 
human body, which could not live unless fed by 
bread and wine — or by food and w^ater — for it must 
eat and drink to live this earthly life. In this way 
He tells them that his earthly body will be broken 
and His blood shed, as a sacrifice for them. Christ 
means that He gives the life of the flesh-and-blood 



body, in which He then dwelt. That they must eat 
it, means that they must give the life of their body 
of flesh and blood for the life of the Spirit within 
them. They must rule the flesh by the Spirit, gov- 
ern it as they would govern any thing outside of 
themselves. Christ said plainly to His disciples 
that it is the Spirit that quickeneth, meaning, gives 
life. The flesh profiteth nothing ; it is the Spirit 
within you that lives, your flesh like all flesh musf die. 
Therefore, what we call the Communion, is like the 
eating of the Passover ; we keep the feast, we eat 
the bread and wine by Christ's command, so as to 
remember the death of His earthly body, which was 
like our earthly body, and lived by food and drink. 
And He tells us He will drink the new wine in His 
Father's kingdom with us. The new wine means 
the new life, the life of the Spirit, which He sent to 
us by the Holy Spirit, which came to us after His 
death on this earth— and it means the True life in 
Heaven. 

GENESIS. MY HUMBLE THOUGHTS THEREON. 

Whoever wrote Genesis tells us that all things 
were made b}^ God. We are not to make a transla- 
tion of Genesis into our language, " aux pied de la 
lettre^'* as it is said in French, which means we are 
not to understand a thing written, as understand- 
ing it at the foot of each letter. Who can find out 



24 ^CKiaiK o^ sill. 

God ? who then can understand all thing's which are 
made by God ? 

The author of Genesis tells us of the suti and moon 
and stars^and he tells us they were made to rule the 
days and the nights oithts earth. This earth, in those 
days, Was thought to be larger than the sun, and the 
igun to move in truth as we see it move round the earth. 
The sun teaches us ^hsit faith is, or belief in a thing' 
contrary to what we see it to be. We do not see or 
feel the earth to revolve around the sun ; we see it to 
do just the reverse, but because we believe what 
others tell us, others in whom we trust, and trust 
without having ever seen them, or spoken to them, 
but whose books we have read. We believe that 
what we see is not so, but that the truth is the 
reverse. Why, then, do we not believe what Christ 
has told us in his book, the New Testament? 
Though we do not see the things w^hich He tells us 
and tells us that they are true, and we believe not 
because we see in our darkened minds the reverse 
of what is true. We trust to our earthly eyes and 
use not the eyes of our reasons or minds or souls. 

Now Genesis says that God set these stars in the 
firmament of the heaven to give light upon the 
earth. Were all these lights in the heavens only 
made for this earth ? I think not ; but you who 
read can think it out perhaps much better than I 



ORIGIN ot sm* §5 

Can. Do so and give the thoughts to the world. We 
need all the thoughts of those who are God's, if they 
fail in their efforts or no. 

Genesis tells us that God gave to mankind — not yet 
called Ada?n—QYery herb, every fruit of trees yield- 
ing seed. '* To you it shall be for meat ; and to 
every beast of the earth, every fowl oi the air, and to 
every thing that creepeth wherein there is life^ I have 
given every green herb for meat." 

Now here we read that man and beast, fowl and 
creeping things, have the same meat — that life is in 
them all. There seems to us no difference made 
between them and mankind until mankind received 
a soul by the breath of God, and became in soul the 
image of God. Then God said to mankind: '''Sub- 
due the earth, and have dominion over every living 
thing that moveth upon the earth." These living 
things on this earth are the descendants of Satan j 
also our earthly living bodies ; and our Souls from 
God are to subdue and have dominion over our 
bodies and all earthly living things. 

Genesis tells us of the seventh day being a day in 
which God rested. This- idea of God's resting, and the 
possibility that God needed rest, shows very clearly 
that there was no idea in the writer's mind of a 
Spiritual God — it was a God made in all respects as 
a human man needing rest. The setting of a time 



26 omam of sm. 

as the morning and evening, the first or seventh 
day, is the same mistake. We know that all created 
things work or grow by the set rules of God. How 
then did God need resf? Rest is of this earth ; there 
can be no need of rest in Heaven. We have in 
Revelations iv, that the four beasts before the throne 
^^ resf not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, 
Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to 
come." 

He who wrote Genesis could not make others 
understand about the Sabbath but by so writing 
Christ tells us the Sabbath, was made for man ; not 
man for the Sabbath. Christ understood mankind. 
Unless we keep one day in seven to think of and 
pray to God, we will forget Him ; in our rush after 
earthly things we would neglect our Souls. " God 
is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship 
Him in Spirit and in Truth." Earthly things so 
needed for our earthly bodies are not Spiritual 
things. Genesis says : ** These are the generations of 
the earth, when they were created" — every plant, 
every herb. I think this is the generations of the 
earth, first a plant or herb, then animals. The plant 
grew from "the dust of the ground." We are told 
that '* God formed man of the dust of the ground," 
before He breathed into his nostrils the breath of 
life which caused man to become a living soul. 



oBiGii^ OF sm. 2Y 

Genesis here tells us that God made the plant 
and herb before it grew, " because it had not rained 
and because there was not a man to till the ground/* 
We can not take this '' aux p'e{f de la lettre^'' for 
mist causes rain, and many green things grow where 
there is no man to till the ground — and all things are 
possible to God. 

Now we have already said what we think the word 
" Eden '* to mean — a garden was the only thing 
man's mind could liken Heaven to. We have also 
said what we believe about the fall of mankind, that 
Christ said he saw Satan fall from Heaven, and we 
believe it was to this earth that Satan fell ; hence the 
origin of sin on this earth, and the fact that Satan's sin 
was creating evil, the result of his attempt to know 
good and evil. And being banished from Heaven to 
this earth, he brought death to this life and all 
things living here ; as all flesh descends from him 
and is his, flesh must die. The spark of life which 
he had in Heaven is the life that goes on in his gen- 
erations, given from father to son on and on until 
this world must end. Happy is the man or woman, 
we think, who having a strong soul can conquer the 
body, overcome all temptations ; and giving him- 
self to Christ, live his life on this earth, so that 
he transmit no sin to generatioiis to come, either 
by body or mind. When God gave mankind a Soul^ 



28 omgik o"^ sik. 

as we are told He gave Adam, it was giveii with 
the command fo subdue the earth — -the soul was to sub- 
due the flesh — and by so doing mankind would and 
could rise above his fellows, the beasts of the earth. 
Let us ask of those who read this, examine your- 
selves and see have you nothing of the beast in 
you ; if you find that you have, how then can you, in 
your body of flesh and blood, be the Image of God? 

ADAM. 

"A deep sleep fell upon Adam," that is, upon 
mankind. This, we think, vae^ins oblivion, between the 
time that mankind evolved from a lower animal into 
his present state, and when he received his soul, his 
mind becoming strong and his intellect growing, 
and his conscience awaking — in the deep sleep he 
forgot his former state of being a brute beast. 

Eve, or woman, we are told, was born of Adam 
(man). Mankind being evolved into a higher state 
than the brute beast, was no longer to cohabit with 
brute beast Among the beasts of the field "for 
Adam there was not found a help meet for him." 
Gen. ii, 20. 

Now, science tells us that life began very low 
down in the scale of animal life, and evolved until 
it reached mankind ; if this is so, then woman is the 
highest evolution, as we read she was created after 
man. This Bible birth of Eve we think is figurative 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 29 

(as we think much in the Bible is, and we are to 
search out the meaning), her evolution took place at 
the same time as Adam's, for all living things were 
made, male and female. It may mean that Adam 
was the flesh and blood body, Eve the mind arid 
intellect of the race called Adam. And we are told 
that the serpent addressed Eve, not Adam — that is, 
he addressed the mind or intellect of mankind, not 
his body of clay. The verse referring to marriage 
must have been written by some one else and much 
later than the rest, for in those early days a man 
did not forsake his father and mother and cleave to 
his wife. How could Adam do so, if he had no father 
or mother ; for he certainly had no father or mother 
like himself ; and his being called in the generations 
the Son of God, means his soul was the Son of God, 
his soul given to him by the breath of God — which is 
the true life within us. 

*' Eve did eat the fruit of the tree." We eat with 
our minds as well as with our bodies. Christ told us 
that we cannot live by bread alone, and that He 
was the bread of Heaven, come down from Heaven. 
He meant that by our minds and hearts and souls, 
we must eat the bread he gave us, if we wish to live. 
That is, we must hear and learn what his words 
mean, and with the truths He gave us we must feed 
our minds and hearts. 



30 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

Eve did eat the knowledge, '^ that ye shall be as 
gods, knowing good and evil." The mind of Adam 
or mankind^ the descendants of Satan, thought evil in 
their minds — wished to know good and evil, and sinned 
to get the knowledge. *' Your eyes shall be opened ' 
this, we suppose, is understood by everyone to 
mean the eyes of their mind, and not of their human 
bodies. Why, then, do we understand the rest to 
be literal and not to contain some deep meaning that 
we are to search out ? 

" Their eyes were opened and they knew that they 
were naked " — it does not say that they saw they 
were naked, but knew ; that is, comprehended in 
their minds. Naked ; that is, they knew that they 
were only animals, a soul within an animal body. 

We have already said what we think the punish- 
ment of the serpent means. The woman's punish- 
ment was to bear children ; Cain was not born in 
Eden. The man's punishment, this earth was cursed 
for his sake ; that is, for Satan's sin ; sorrow shall 
last as long as this earth shall last. '' Thou shalt eat 
the herb of the field," we have already said, refers 
to mankind when man was only animal. We do not 
think we are to read Genesis as we read any book 
written in our day. What is written in Genesis does 
not follow one event after another — we must search 
the spirit of the book her^ and there. 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 31 

** Dust thou art, and unto dust shall thou return.** 
Here we find evolution from a spark or a pulse of 
life. We came from the dust of this earthy and to it 
our bodies inherited from Satan will return. Our 
Souls from God will always live. *' Coats of skins ** 
also refers to the animal life of animal man. 

Satan or Sin, if permitted to remain in Heaven 
(Eden), would live forever, and his descendants, men 
and women of clay, would have lived there for ever, 
men and w^omen born of sin. Therefore Satan fell 
from Heaven to this earth. This is what we think is 
meant in verses 22, 23, 24 of 3rd chapter of Genesis. 
" The flaming sword *' is death to the body of clay, 
it cannot enter Heaven (Eden) where eternal life is 
to be found. The body of clay must die. 

Again, we think that Cain means the body of clay, 
a child of Satan. Christ has said that Satan was a 
murderer and a liar, from the beginning. Satan 
lied to Eve, and is the father of Death. Cain lied 
in offering to God what was not of the best of what 
he had, and he slew his brother. Abel means the 
soul. He brought to God the best of his flock ; that 
is, he worshipped God in his soul and mind, and 
was accepted of God. 

''Cain went out from the presence of the Lord," 
means, we think, Satan ; sin, lies, and murder, all of 
which the word Satan means, went from God*$ 



32 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

presence, in the body of this child of Satan, Cain. 
And so sin lives on this earth, and Satan, driven 
from heaven, is the origin of sin on this earth, and 
this world and all the glories of it are Satan's. 

We must read Genesis all through with this idea. 
We cannot know how many years are between 
events, and we must search the deep spiritual mean- 
ings which undoubtedly are given to us in it. For 
if we only take the letter, how can we understand it ? 
For where did Cain find his wife ? He was the first 
child of Adam and Eve. The first child of Cain, we 
are told, '* builded a city." And many more accounts 
like these we will find in Genesis. We know that 
the Serpent was used by the old nations as a sign of 
wisdom. Therefore, we think it is so used in Genesis. 
" The serpent was more subtil than any beast of the 
field;" it had this earth's wisdom, the same as Christ 
tells us, *' the children of this world are for their 
generation wiser than the children of light." That 
is, in their earthly life they are wise in earthly wis- 
dom, while the children of light — that is of heavenly 
wisdom in the soul — these are not so wise in earthly 
things ; they do not succeed in getting earthly treas- 
ures, which the children wholly of this earth do get. 
The serpent // not here used as a symbol, was cer- 
tainly on the same level as mankind, for it spoke the 
language of Eve, also had reason, mind atid thought 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 33 

If you take this account of the serpent ^^aux pied de 
la lettre,'' you must believe that the serpent and all 
animals and reptiles were equal to mankind, could 
speak and reason with them — that is, before mankind 
became a living soul^ — for with and by that gift of God 
mankind was raised above the brute beast. 

We are telling you that v/e are searching the scrip- 
tures for the sj)i7'it of the scriptures, and not for the 
letter. In so doing, we are obeying our Lord and 
Master Jesus Christ. All the account of Genesis 
makes no difference to us, for we know that in our 
body of flesh and blood there is no good thmg ; that 
evil and sin is ever with us, and the battle of our soul 
with the flesh and blood body 7nust go on until the 
death of the body ; but as the world has attacked 
the Bible, we are doing our best to fight the world 
as a soldier of Christ. 

So here is what we think : Satan, if once in 
Heaven, was then fit to be there. A spirit or 
angel of wisdom and knowledge, who thought to be 
equal to God, and in his attempt to create, and 
know good and evil, created only evil, and was 
driven from Heaven to this earth, broken to pieces, 
and, as we said, the pieces in which were life, began 
to live on this earth in the lowest stage, and by slow 
degrees from plant to animal came to be mankind. 
Then God gav© mankind their souls — to help them 



34 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

to think of Heaven and find the way back there — 
and Genesis tells us at first, that God said to the ser- 
pent, "thou art cursed above all cattle'' that is, the 
human body descended from Satan and animals is 
cursed. We cannot, in our bodies of clay, leave this 
earth, and what we eat in the body of clay, is dust, 
for out of dust does it grow. The seed of the woman 
we know is Christ ; mark ye, it is the seed of the 
woman ; it does not say the seed of man. Christ's 
human body he took from a woman alone ; that we 
must allow if we believe what we read in the New 
Testament. Therefore the soul and spirit of woman 
must be stronger than the soul and spirit of man, 
for a woman alone was found pure enough to give 
the human body in which Christ dwelt. 

*' The enmity between thee and the woman," is 
the enmity between the body of flesh, w^hich we get 
from Satan, and the Spirit of God, which we get 
from Christ born of a woman. " Thy seed," means 
the flesh and blood body; "her seed," those to 
whom Christ by the Spirit has come. " It shall 
bruise thy head ;" that is, Christ conquers death ; 
death of the bod}^ of clay is the head of Satan, for 
Satan created death, 

*' Thou shall bruise his heel;" that is, Satan 
caused the human body of Christ to die here. It is 
galled his heel because his head is the Spirit of God, 



ORIGIN" OF SIN. 35 

His heel, means the human body. We go back now 
to these words, '* I will put enmity between thee and 
the woman." We think this means that women, not 
men, are the ones who are the enemies of sin, and of 
the human body which causes sin. They are the 
ones to fight the hardest against this body, descended 
from Satan. Also, a woman alone said, ''Behold the 
handmaid of the Lord ; be it unto me as thou hast 
said." 

ANIMALS. 

Why did the first Christians or the Christians of 
our days represent the four Gospels by animals ? 
St. Mark, by a lion ; St. Luke, an eagle ; St. John, an 
ox ; and St. Matthew, a calf. And, also, why do we 
constantly find allusion to animals in the Bible ? We 
think that there is no other reason but that we are 
descended from animals ourselves, and have such 
animal ways and inclinations ; we eat and drink, we 
nourish our bodies the same as animals. We sleep 
and walk the same as animals. They think and rea- 
son to a certain extent, they can be trained to do all 
sorts of things. We train up a child and are obliged 
to teach it, or it would not know if we did not. 

In the Bible we have an ass which spoke, a lion 
is often mentioned as to destroy mankind. The 
raven, the dove, they do God's will ; the dog is 
mentioned often, the wolf, swine, the ram, sheep are 



36 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

often spoken of, and the /amd, the ox and the mule. 
The lion was the symbol of strength and of the 
tribe of Judah and of Christ. The fox is mentioned 
to denote that the person socalled had the instincts 
of the fox in his character. Christ uses this symbol, 
"Go and tell that fox." You can hunt in the New 
Testament and find when Christ used the word. The 
animals all have instincts which can be found in the 
characters of mankind, and also the birds have these 
instincts in a lesser degree. Notice, hunt, and see 
for yourself if this is not so. We differ, then, only by 
our souls from the lower animals ; we should use, 
then, every effort to overcome the animal in us, and 
let the soul grow, the conscience, the brain power, 
the mind, the reason ; these all belong to the Soul 
If we stunt it, we remain animals ; we can only rise- 
above them by overcoming the animal by the wSoul.. 

TAe Missing Link. 

These Bushmen gave rise to a sombre repugnance 
almost amounting to a shuddering aversion, in that 
they are examples of the lowest depths of a degraded 
humanity. A characteristic distinction between 
monkey and man is the power possessed by the latter 
of opposability between the forefinger and thumb. 
This power is lacking in the Bushman. " Pinch my 
finger," I said to one of them ; " pinch much harder." 
In vain ; the pressure would scarcely have injured 
a fly. Now, an anthropoidal ape possesses many 
human characteristics, but is essentially a monkey ; 
a Bushman possesses many apish characteristics, but 



ORlGlN^ OF SM. §t 

is essentially a man. A miserable, dwarfed, decrepit, 
repulsive man. One whom I measured was only 
four feet three inches in height, with a skinny, 
feeble body to correspond, a screwed-up chest, 
drumstick legs and arms, very small cerebellum, 
prognathous jaws, high cheek bones, acute facial 
angle, and lack-lustre eyes. 

His features were totally devoid of expression ; 
his demeanor, when examined and handled, was 
more stolid than that of a sheep ; his language 
could barely be called coherent, and, in fact, it was 
difficult and painful to realize that this poor brutish 
animal must be classified in a genus which com- 
prises a Newton, a Milton, and a Shakespeare. The 
only instance I witnessed of Bushman intelligence 
was in a tiny infant in Kimberley Hospital. The 
creature was about the size of a puppy, and equally 
bright and vivacious, illustrating the theory that in 
a race of low intellect intelligence is in an inverse 
ratio to age. — Blackwood' s Magazine, 

IMAGE OF GOD. 

Tell me how you understand these w^ords in 
Genesis, chap, i., verse 26 : *' And God said, Let us 
make man in our image after our likeness ;" and 
then we have in the 51st Psalm, verse 5, 6, *' Behold, 
I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother 
conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in the 
inward parts ; and in the hidden part thou shall make 
me to know wisdom." In our mind, there can be 
but one meaning. The irnage dind likeness to God can 
be only spiritual — the soul or spirit in mankind is 
the image spoken of here. In the Psalm, ** shapen in 



38 ORIGIN OF SllSf. 

iniquity and sin," is what we have said before : we, 
in our bodies of clay have been shapened by the ani- 
mal body traced back to Satan, which is Sin ; and 
the truth which God desires of us in the hidden part 
is truth in our souls, for the soicl is hidden, our minds 
and reason are hidden from all, except God. They 
are not hidden from Him. 

" When Mary brought forth her first-born son she 
wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a 
manger, because there was no room for them in the 
inn." The deep meaning of this mention of the 
manger may mean that Christ, when He came to 
his earth to dwell in a body ot clay, came to be 
among the poor and humble ; also the human body 
of clay, descended from animals, may be the reason 
the manger is mentioned. This Holy Spirit of God 
had come to dwell in a human body -originally de- 
scended from animals, and by doing so gave to men 
and women \)ciQ power to become the children of God 
by their o^nfree will. Children of Satan they always 
would have been and lost forever, and but for this 
great compassion of God through Christ they never 
would have been saved. Therefore Christ is the 
Saviour of mankind, for in no other way could the 
descendants of Satan, or Sin, ever return to Heaven, 

The angels who appeared to the shepherds when 
Christ was born said, ^' Glory to God in the highest 



ORfGIN OF' SIN'. S9 

and on earth peace among men in whom he is well 
pleased." It is, therefore, only to those in whom 
God is pleased that peace can come ; it is not earthly 
peace but peace wdth God, and it is within our souls, 
minds and reason that God must be pleased. There- 
fore the voice when Christ was baptized said, ** This 
is my son in whom I am well pleased." Christ was 
then in the human body, and the Spirit of God which 
had come to this earth to dwell among men was 
pleased to dwell in the pure human body of Christ. 
His soul, or Spirit mind, and reason were of God 
direct. Christ, also, is the true Light which lighteth 
every one in the world. This Light was sent to us 
by God through Christ. Without His life, works, 
words, and death, we would still be only the children 
of Satan or Sin. 

HOW CAN WE FIND OUT GOD ? 

Only by the spoken Word. That is, the message 
which God himself sent to this world, by the only 
w^ay we could receive it and by the only way we 
were able to bear it, as no one can see God and live. 
The Word, therefore, was God. That is, not the body 
of flesh and blood in which Christ dwelt when on 
this earth, as that body was to die ; He distinctly and 
plainly says so Himself. He said, *^ Why do you 
call me good, no one is good but God." The man 
who called Christ good was, in his mind and heart, ad- 



46 6:ftiaiN of sM. 

dressing a human man like himself ; he was not ad- 
dressing the Word which was in Christ, and the 
word which was God. 

Having read that there are some who say that 
there is no God, and that Christ did not make Chris- 
tianity, but that Christianity made Christ, and that 
women preachers preach Christ, we wish to say 
that women can receive into their minds the 
truths of God better than men ; and God is 
nearer to woman's soul and mind than to man's. 
And, doubtless, since unbelief has attacked belief, 
Christians will have a greater mental activity in the 
future to defend their faith — for the religion of 
Christ will not fail. We are told in the Bible that 
before this world is destroyed that there will come 
** a falling away of the faith first," but we are also 
told that at Christ's second coming, *^ He will find 
faith on this earth." 

What kind of an argument is it that Christianity 
made Christ ? History tells us that Christ lived ; it 
tells us when and where He lived. This then is a 
foolish saying, with no sense in it at all, that 
** Christianity made Christ." And as to there being 
no God, and no modern mental activity but with 
those who say there i: no God, what are we to 
think when the mental activity suddenly gives way, 
in an unknown manner, and when those who make 



oMGiN OF sm. 41 

such boasts lose their minds and reasons, and live on 
in the body with lost minds. Will their modern men- 
tal activity help them then ? And yet this thing, los- 
ing his mind, can come to every one. We say above 
'* those who say there is no God," for we do not believe 
that there exists a living thinking person on this^ 
earth, who is in his right mind, but who imvardly, in 
some secret corner of his soul or mind, knows that 
there is a God, More the sin, therefore, in trying to 
make others disbelieve in God ! 

" ART THOU A MASTER OF ISRAEL AND KNOWEST 
NOT THESE THINGS?" 

Are we Christians and we know not the deep 
meaning of Christ's teachings t When Nicodemus 
went by night (because he feared the Jews because 
they would turn him away from the synagogue) to 
ask Spiritual questions of Christ, he first made a con- 
fession of his faith in Christ. ** We know that Thou 
art a teacher come from God." Jesus said to him 
"' Except a man be born again he cannot see the 
kingdom of God." Nicodemus knew only of the 
animal birth ; and Jesus tells him " that which is born 
of the flesh is fleshy and that which is born of the Spirit 
is spirit!' Here are two things very distinct and very 
separate. You can be born of the flesh and have no 
Spirit life. Jesus here takes the wind as a symbo 
to make Nicodemus understand the birth of the 



42 oieXGi^ of st!C. 

soul. *' Thou canst not tell whence it cotiieth and 
whither it goeth ;" you know not from where your 
soul or spirit comes nor can you tell where it is 
to go when it leaves the body of flesh — the body 
of flesh inherited from animals, and through animals 
inherited from Satan, which is sin. The soul born of 
spirit, which is from the breath of God. Breath is 
air. Air is motion, like wind, and bloweth where 
it listeth ; thou canst not hear the sound. Your 
soul can hear the guidance of the Spirit in your con- 
science ; but you cannot tell or know whence it 
Cometh. 

Jesus said to Nicodemus that he, Christ, spoke of 
what He knew and testified to what He had seen, and 
we receive not this witness. Christ had told them 
a great many earthly things and they believed not 
And here was one : the body of flesh was animal. 
The soul within it must be born of water (baptism) 
unto God, and of the Spirit, the soul or reason given 
by God, our soul or Spirit given by us to things of 
the Spirit. If this is not so, you cannot enter into 
the kingdom of God. That is, you can not under- 
stand the things of God, or receive them. And if 
you cannot understand these earthly things of God, 
how then can you understand heavenly things ? 
This is what Christ said to Nicodemus, " How shall 
ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things ?" In what 



ORIGIN of iStN^ 43 

Way would we believe them, and n6 one could tell 
US of those heavenly things but Christ. " No man 
had been in heaven but he who came from Heaven^' 
came to be a son of mankind, so that he could save 
mankind, the descendants of animals and of Satan 
or Sin. Christ here refers to Moses, the lifting up 
of the serpent in the wilderness [read the story in 
the BibleJ and all who believed were cured and 
lived. So all who believe in Christ will be saved 
from death and will have eternal life. We believe 
this to mean the life of the soul, and not of the 
body, as Christ has said, *' that which is born of the 
flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit 
is spirit." Certainly the body of flesh tnust die. 

OBJECTIONS. 

In reading what we have written, you will say, as 
so many women have said to us, these words : *' But 
my father and mother were so and so." So that 
what we have written can not be so. Let us first 
say to you, that your father and my father have 
nothing whatever to do with this, unless you can 
trace your generation back thousands and thousands 
of years, as far back as Cain and Seth, or before 
Adam and Eve. If so, your generation comes under 
what we have written. We are descendants of ani- 
mals in the body of flesh, '' that which is born of the 
flesh is flesh." Do you call cannibals men or ani- 



44 OHIGIN OF SIN. 

mals ? Are they in the image of man or the image 
of God ? They feed upon their own kind ; so do 
some animals. I do not think alt animals would eat 
their own kind. Will a horse eat a dead horse, or a 
cow a dead cow^ and so on ? Yet mankind eat man- 
kind. 

If we read in the 8th chapter of St. John the answer 
Christ gives the Jews who boasted that Abraham 
was their father, we will see that Jesus says to them, 
" I know that ye are Abraham's seed ; " and yet He 
tells them '* ye are of your father the devil, and the 
lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer 
from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, 
because there is no truth in him. When he speak- 
eth a lie he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar, and 
the father of it." Now, as evil came to this earth 
when Satan fell from heaven, and we in the flesh 
descend from Satan, these words of Jesus, we think, 
explain why evil is in us ; why mankind left to nature 
do evil rather that good. Jesus allows that those to 
whom he was speaking were Abraham's seed — 
the chosen race — and yet they were children of the 
devil. The devil was a murderer from the beginning ! 
we understand this to mean that he is the cause that 
death must come to all earthly life. *' The lusts of 
your father ye will do,'* we think means, as the sin of 



ORIGIN OF siir. 45 

Satan was the act of creating a child in his image, 
his descendants will never, on this earth, escape the 
necessity of it, from the lowest animal or object in 
which there is earthly life, to the highest. Those 
who are able to rule their earthly dwelling-place — 
the body of flesh — are the strong souls of God. Christ 
has said that in heaven there is no marrying, and 
that the souls which leave their earthly dwellings are 
in heaven as the angels of heaven ; and He also said 
that as long as the world lasts that here there will 
be marrying and giving in marriage, creating a child 
in their own image. Christ also tells these children 
of Abraham that as their father the devil is a liar, 
and the father of it, they cannot believe the truth 
He tells them. Our flesh, by nature descending from 
the devil, prevents our receiving the truth which 
Christ came and gave us. And He tells them 
plainly this, " your father Abraham rejoiced to see 
my day, and he saw it and was glad. Before Abra- 
ham was I am." Abraham in the flesh was dead, but 
Abraham in spirit or soul was in heaven ; it was from 
there he saw the birth of Christ on this earth ; it 
was from there he saw the pure spirit, which w^as 
the son of God, who is a spirit (Christ tells us God 
is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship 
Him in spirit), and Abraham saw this pure Spirit 
come to dwell in the flesh which had descended from 



46 ORTGm OF SIN. 

Satan. He hesitated not to take upon Himself this 
flesh, and to overcome the temptations of the flesh 
for the sake of saving mankind — and showing man- 
kind the only way to escape from the sins of the 
flesh inherited from the devil in the flesh ; and to 
save their souls alive, that living spark, or the soul 
from God which Satan had in heaven (Satan fell 
from heaven,) and which spark lives forever. Abra- 
ham, seeing the hope brought to this earth by this 
glorious Son of God, '' rejoiced to see it" — this Son. 
of God who lived in heaven before Abraham was. 

Now, those who believe in the miraculous birth of 
Christ believe this. The purest part of mankind is 
woman. From woman alone Christ took his human 
body, and woman receives His teachings and His 
truths more readily than man, more deeply than 
man, more truly than man ; therefore she is more 
fit than man to teach them and give them to others. 

OUR DESCENT FROM WHAT WE CALL THE LOWER 

ANIMALS. 

As Science has decided that such is the case, when 
we come to look ^\t it in that light, how plainly we 
see that it is so. Have you never noticed some 
strong resemblance to some animal or bird in the 
features of some man or woman, and also in the 
character or dispositiou of animals and men and 



ORIGirr OF SIK. 47 

women — all animals are not alike, nor are all men 
alike, nor are all women alike. 

The lowest animals fight each other; so do the 
highest. We are witness to birds of one kind fighting 
for a nest imtil one overcame the other. As we 
watched the strange sight, we thought how exactly 
like two men fighting. Think what a spectacle this 
earth must be to One who sees the lowest insect up 
to the highest animal — mankind. All are fighting, 
killing each other, eating each other ; if not under 
the plain sense of the word, none the less the 
fighting and killing goes on. And Christ came to 
tell us that as such we are not fit for the Kingdom 
of Heaven. To follow His example, when on this 
earth, means simply to kill our natures inherited 
from the animals, to kill self. This is the hardest 
thing for human nature to do, and has only truly 
been done once on this earth, and the human flesh 
which did it held within it the pure Spirit we call the 
Son of God. 

THE MANGER. 

The manger indicates, that the Holy Spirit of 
God had come to dwell in a human body descended 
from low^er animals ; and by doing so, gave to human 
men and women the power to become children of 
God by their own free choice. In no other way 
Qpuld the descendant^ of Satan ever return to 



48 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

heaven — eternal death, eternal banishment from 
Heaven was their just fate. The laws of Moses 
began the battle between the bodies of clay in- 
herited from Satan, and the spark of life — the soul — 
which having once lived in Heaven (before the fall 
of Satan) can never die. Generation after gener- 
tion at last found, born of flesh, a virgin, pure enough 
to be the Mother of Christ's earthly body, in which 
dwelt the Holy Spirit of God — the Word which was 
God, and which dwelt among men. 

Now, who will say that he has not sin within him ? 
Where did he get sin, if not from Satan ? Certainly, 
we can not say that God gave us a nature of sin. 
Had God made Adam and Eve perfect, they could 
not have sin. But Adam and Eve simply indicate 
man and woman at the time that the descendants of 
Satan had arrived at the forms of man and woman. 
In their flesh they had the sins of their father, the 
devil ; and to the end of this world their descendants 
will have to fight the sins inherited from the devil. 
God has sent them many helps to rise again to 
Heaven, but the greatest help was in the great sac- 
rifice of a pure and Holy Spirit of God descending 
from Heaven to dwell for a time in flesh of this 
earth. And this earth, and all in it, belong to Satan 
— the prince of this world owns it, and all the erlories 



ORIGIN OF SIN. 49 

of it. The soul which endures to the end, the same 
shall be saved. 

MY soul's answer. 

Come, my Soul, the world has attacked your 
Lord and Master ; what have you to say about it ? 

I have this to say ; I wish I had the pen of a 
ready-writer, to tell you plainly what I think. My 
Lord and Master has bid me thijik, I have life in 
my Soul, I should think out for myself all truths ; 
I can read and study the Bible for myself, I can 
read all books for or against my Lord and Master 
and the truths He came to give us w^ho are on this 
earth. I can hear sermons, and read sermons writ- 
ten by dijfferent thinkers — of different Churches ; so 
as to glean the truths from each. If I am well prac- 
tised in this, I will readily catch in my soul the best 
of all, and let the rest go by. I know that I am 
shut up now in a body of flesh and blood. This body 
of clay has come from sin ; it has within its nature 
nothing that is good ; it torments me, it plagues 
m.e, it hinders me ; it is its nature to do so, for being 
sin it hates good, and I hate it. I take care of it for 
one reason only — that is, Christ my Lord and Mas- 
ter has sanctified the human body by dwelling in a 
human body Himself, and by doing so, made that 
body sinless. 

We ^r^ uot the image of God in our human 



50 ORIGIN OF SIN. 

natures. Our human bodies come by sin. " Behold, 
I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother 
conceive me." Whoever wrote the 51st Psalm 
understood that his body of clay was of sin. Satan 
(Sin) whom Christ said he s^^ fall from Heaven 
(which I think is the place we call Eden), was ban- 
ished to this earth broken in pieces. But life, which 
cannot die — the life which -once lived in Heaven 
(Eden) is the life I mean which cannot die — began 
the life of this earth as low and small as life can be 
and be life — a pulse — perhaps a pulse in mud, water, 
lower than a worm, but a pulse, a pulse of life. 
From a plant it grew to be an animal, clothed in 
hair, feeding on grass, and when it became in shape 
as men and women it was called Adam and Eve. 
Up to this time they were the descendants of Sin 
(Satan) — soulless. The life within them was an 
atom from Heaven. We inherit our flesh and its 
sins from Satan ; our Spirits from God ; hence this 
endless struggle within us between good and evil. 
*'The law of the flesh, and the law of the Spirit." 
When we wish to do good, evil is with us. We 
received our souls, when God gave them life, by the 
breath of His Spirit ; then mankind became a living 
soul within the human body, emerged from clay 
and was called then Adam and Eve — a race above 
the other animals bj virtue alone of the living soul. 



ORIGIN OF sm. 51 

The evil, the sin, which we inherit from Satan (Sin) 
will fight on, until the death of the body which we 
have from Sin, and the soul will conquer, so far as 
we let it fight its own battle ; it cannot die — it is 
from God. But we can let it grow within us to a 
glorious height or stunt it ; but we cannot kill it — it 
will live forever. 

We are told in one place in the Bible, *^ then men 
began to call upon the name of the Lord." They 
had not done so before, being brute beasts they had 
no souls, so could not call upon God, who is a Spirit, 
and they who worship Him must worship Him 
in spirit and in truth. We have said before that the 
sin of Satan was the sin of creating, and as no one 
but God can create ^^^^ — "• None is good but God." 
Satan created evil, and continued on this earth to 
create evil, therefore our bodies are evil. Sin is in the 
world in that way — '^ The Prince of this world " is 
Satan — it will always be here. As long as the world 
lasts, Sin and evil will fight the good that is in the 
world and in us. Our souls conquer at last only by 
the death of the body of clay. Evil cannot enter 
Heaven ; our bodies and their laws are of Satan ; 
and in a body, the same as ours, though without sin, 
being born of a pure Virgin, Christ — my Lord and 
Master — conquered Satan. Tempted like as we are 
by sin^ He conquered in the wilderness. 



52 ORrGiN OF SIN. 

This is our double nature, flesh and body, inher- 
ited from Sin (Satan) when it fell from Heaven, 
and the spark of life, our souls, our other nature, 
which cannot die, and which struggled to find God 
again through many dark years, and many dark 
ways, until Christ in the mercy of God, took com- 
passion on these children of sin and came to dwell 
in a body of clay, of flesh and blood, the same as 
ours, but without sin, because the body of clay 
which He took was not created by the double nature 
of sin. At the same time it was flesh and blood and 
could be tempted as we are. Think, says my Soul 
to me, of Christ's great love for you and others, to 
take as a dwelling-place a body such as yours, our 
body of sin, and by His holiness sanctify my body 
so that the soul within this body might live and grow. 
Watch, therefore, that your body of sin, which you in- 
herit from Satan, gain not the victory over your soul. 

THE APPEAL. 

We have seen how sin came to this earth, with 
the consequent sufferings and sorrows, the origin 
of Sin — in other words Satan, the Devil, the serpent, 
lies and murders — and that we in the flesh have 
evolved through many stages from Satan to our 
present state, and we have seen how responsible we 
are for all the sufferings and sorrows on this earth 
>ybich comQ to others and to ourselves, ^i;d hpvv 



ORIGIK OF SliT. 63 

unjustly we accuse God of all these sufferings and 
sorrows of which we alone are the cause through 
ignorance. We have seen how vain are the efforts 
of the flesh to overcome evil with good, also how 
slow we are to comprehend all that Christ has 
taught us. And we understand the reason of all 
this to be the unceasing efforts of Satan in our flesh 
to prevent our souls, or the living spark of life from 
God, which is within us, from guiding our flesh and 
minds into the only way by which this spark of life 
can return to Heaven. We have seen that unless 
by study, and effort, and will, we ourselves, and not 
another must gain knowledge and understanding 
and strength to comprehend what Christ came to 
teach us ; we must conquer ourselves, we must rule 
ourselves, if we wish to overcome the Satan and 
animal within us. We see that we are fighting on 
the enemxy^s land. This world and all the glories of it 
are Satan s. We in the flesh are Satan's. We have 
but a small spark of the true life within us. Then, if 
we wish to be victorious, we cannot lose a moment, 
we cannot cease to pray for help from God ; every 
effort, every thought, every motive must be with 
the view of saving the spark of true life which we 
get from God. 

We have seen God's great compassion, great 
mercy, great love, in coming by Spirit to dwell in the 



54 ORIGIN 0& stm 

flesh as a human being, whom we know as Jesus 
Christ — and as God could not dwell in the flesh 
wholly descended from Satan, the body of flesh was 
born of 2ipure virgin. And to indicate that the body 
of flesh had evolved from animal, the birth was in a 
manger. Will not this thought take from us all 
earthly pride^ and also make us realize God's great 
compassion towards our struggling souls for the life 
immortal. 

We know that flesh and blood cannot see God 
and live ; therefore God came to us in flesh and 
blood to tell us in words the only way that we can 
live ; and He told us through Christ all that we 
could understand of that way, if we will only try to 
understand the words spoken by Christ and given to 
us by those who heard Him. But we should not 
forget that each one of us, and not another^ should 
study these words and works of Christ for ourselves, 
and with free minds understand them in our own 
minds and spirits to our own profit, for the things 
of the Spirit are deep and are to be thought out by 
the Spirit. 

Refuse not the compassion and love and good-will 
of God, which He offers us through Christ. Trem- 
ble and think of the consequences of refusing to 
hear and believe ; the consequences are our own 
making, not God's — the evil and sufferings we make 



oMaii^ OF siir. S5 

for ourselves, not God. The laws of God are just, 
and we know are not to be broken, and will be ful- 
filled. No miracle will be performed for us. If we 
break these laws, if we scoff, if we make efforts to 
create evil, we will succeed, easily, swiftly, surely ; 
for Satan is in our flesh, and this world is Satan's. 
Also, the consequences of all this will surely be ours — 
sufferings, sorrows, and the loss of Heaven. 

How much has Christ done towards refining, civil- 
izing this world ? We must first see how these things 
stood at the time that Christ came to this earth. 

Revenge was thought to be just and honorable — 
an eye for an eye, and so on, rejoicing when they 
see the vengeance, saying we shall wash our foot- 
steps in the blood of the ungodly. Great pride of 
supposed goodness, saying, I thank thee God that 
I am not like others ! Also, the poor were despised 
because they were poor. Great pride of supposed 
knowledge, saying, *' Dost thou teach us !" 

Now Christ taught us that revenge is sinful ; also to 
revile when reviled, is wrong ; to take the uppermost 
seat at a feast is not to be done. Certainly this is 
teaching courtesy. To say. Peace be to the house 
you enter, is to wish it well and to all who dwell in 
it ; no envy, no hatred, no malice to the household 
must dwell in your mind or heart towards those 
in it. 



56 OfelGIK OF SlK. 

Now let lis see the way that the Jews understood 
God : I Chronicles xx. David had conquered their 
enemy, the people of the city Rabbah, " And he 
brought out the people that were in it, and cut them 
with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes/' 
Now compare this with the way Christ understood 
God, and taught us to understand God : Love your 
enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them 
that curse you, and pray for them which despite- 
fully use you. Be merciful, judge not, and Christ 
here says, " Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour and hate thine 
enemy.*' So it was understood to be the right thing 
to do, when Christ came to this earth ; that is, to 
hate your enemy. What a change in morals and 
refinement is this teaching of Christ — " love your 
enemy." 

Has any one taught us higher teachings than the 

teachings of Christ ? 

Divine, 

Those who only believe in the human nature of 
Christ, and deny his Divine nature, cast upon ihe7n- 
selves great reproach, and they prove before the 
world that they are cruel and wicked ; for what one 
human man can do, another human man can also do, 

Christ, by his touch, cured the sick of leprosy and 
plagues, gave sight to those who were born blindy 



ORIGIN OF SIl^, 57 

gave life to dead bodies, called back the departed 
soul to re-inhabit the body of clay. Jesus' answer 
to those whom John the Baptist sent to ask him, 
'' Art thou he that should come, or do we look for 
another," was this : ^' The blind receive their sight 
and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the 
deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have 
the gospel preached to them/' 

Some say that these things were done by a 
man, the same in nature as themselves. Then, if 
this is so, why do they not do these things ? Are 
they so cruel, so hard, so wicked, so wholly Satan's, 
that they take pleasure in seeing these sufferings, 
all of which are part of Satan, and caused by our 
flesh inherited from Satan ? Or, do they say that 
they do not believe that such a person as Christ 
ever lived on this earth ? Then they allow that who- 
ever wrote the life of Christ, in what we call the 
Gospels, whoever the man was, he was divine, 
otherwise he could not have created in his mind a 
life such as Christ lived on this earth. 
Human and Divine. 

At the crucifixion the double nature of Christ was 
plainly shown : for what is of God cannot die. It was 
necessary, Christ himself tells us, that His body 
should die, the same as our bodies must die, for it 
was a body like unto ours in w^hich Christ dwelt. 



Unless our bodies die we cannot return to Heaveii, 
for our bodies of flesh are of Satan, they are created 
by Satan banished from Heaven ; they must die or 
our imprisoned souls cannot return to Heaven. 

Therefore, we think (with all reverence, and love 
for our Saviour) that at the death of Christ on the 
cross, his cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me !" shows us that it was His body in the 
flesh which then died. The Divine for that moment 
withdrew. For what is of God cannot die. Therefore, 
Christ knows what it is for us to die in the flesh, 
having died in the flesh himself. 

We do not think that Christ's cry was " My power, 
why hast thou left me !" for Christ on no occasion 
boasted of His power. He knew that He had power, 
for He has told us that He could call for legions of 
angels, if He wished to do so. We know by His 
life that He never did so. Power is what mankind 
loves and gets when it can — power over the masses 
of people ; and man can only get this power by keep- 
ing the people in ignorance and gaining knowledge 
himself, and locking it up from others. Christ 
gave knowledge ; He taught others ; He taught the 
masses of the people. He urged all to learn, to 
give up ignorance, to listen and understand what 
He told them. He never lost power, and He never 
used it for Himself. 



ORIGIN OF Slir. S9 

It was His double nature to which He referred 
when He said, '' All manner of sin and blasphemy 
shall be forgiven unto men : but the blasphemy 
against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto 
men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the 
Son of Man (Christ in the flesh) it shall be forgiven 
him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost 
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world 
nor in the world to come." 

Also, we think that Christ bore the indignities which 
were heaped upon Him in this world before His 
death, as an example of what the body of flesh must 
suffer. He had taken the body of flesh, and borne a/l 
the sufferings which such a body must suffer from 
Satan. Can any of us willingly suffer in silence ? 
With a knowledge such as Christ must have had, 
that at any moment He could be defended from it 
and not use the knowledge, but bear all to the end, 
what would our vain pride make us do, when these 
indig7iities came upon us ? — our pride of our bodies, 
which we inherit from brute beast and Satan ? 

And yet Christ, in the flesh, bore all these things 
for our Salvation ! The body descended from Satan 
is worthy of^ these indignities, and it is of these 
bodies that w^e are so proud and vain. And Christ 
suffered them all for us ! He was in the human body 



60 OMGIN OF sm. 

only for our sakes. It was like unto our bodies, and 
must suffer the same if Christ used not his Divine 
nature to defend it. He did not use His Divine 
nature until after the death of that body of flesh, 
and then, having dwelt in that body, and being Lord 
of life, the body could not decay as our bodies, being 
so purified by the spirit of God which dwelt in it, 
and the true life in it returned to it, and this earth, 
which is Satan's, held it not. 



BOOK 11. 



THE DOTTED WORDS IN THE HEBREW 

BIBLE. 

[6i] 



THE DOTTED WORDS IN THE HEBREW 

BIBLE. 



In the Old Documents and the New Bible, by J. 
Paterson Smyth, L. L. B., B. D., I read the follow- 
ing : 

** In the account of Esau's meeting with Jacob, we 
are told (Gen. xxxiii. 4) that he fell on his neck and 
kissed him — and the words 'and kissed him' are 
marked thus by these mysterious dots, which remain 
to this day in our Hebrew Bible." 

I cannot read Hebrew, but I think the dots mean 
more than they are supposed to do. May it not 
mean, Judas kissed the Christ and so betrayed him ? 
We are to search the Scriptures, as they testify of 
Christ. I wish I had all other words so marked in 
the Hebrew Bibles, to see if they do not also testify 

to the signs of knowing Christ. 

The author of the above book in telling of how 
an ancient and valuable copy of the Scriptures was 
effaced by a piece of pumice stone, and the parch- 
jnent used for St, Ephriam's discourses, says, *' en- 

m 



(34 THE DOTTED WORDS 

thusiastic admirers are generally ladies," so if a 
woman effaced the Scriptures years ago, a woman 
now will do her best to make the Scriptures plain, 
and clear words to the praise of Christ. 

Mr. Smythe also says in chapter on " Ancient Criti- 
cism ": *' They attempted, too, a crude sort of Bib- 
lical criticism, such as marking in a certain way 
words about which there was something peculiar. 
The reader, perhaps, will wonder how this can be 
known when no one even of our most ancient 
writers has ever seen one of these vanished copies. 
He will find, however, in the following period of the 
history, that the copyists there make notes about 
certain dots and marks which had been transferred 
into their manuscripts, from earlier times, and which 
were so ancient that their meaning had even then 
become completely lost. 

*^ vSome of their guesses at the meaning are rather 
amusing. For instance, in the account of Esau's 
meeting Jacob, we are told (Gen. xxxiii, 4) that he 
fell on his neck and kissed him, and the words 
* and kissed him ' are marked thus by these mysteri- 
ous dots. Some of the old commentators were 
greatly exercised in mind about the explanation of 
this. One thought they denoted that the kiss was 
sincere, another that it was not sincere, another 
that the dots represented Esau's teeth/' 



IN THE HEBREW BIBLE, 65 

I agree, therefore, with the scribe who thought 
the kiss was //^/sincere — since I think it to point out 
Judas' kiss given to Christ as a sign, when he be- 
trayed Jesus unto death. And if the ancient Jewish 
authority attributes the marks to Ezra, and that 
Ezra when asked about the dots, said : "When Eli- 
jah comes, if he asks why I wrote down that word, 
I will answer, ^ I have already dotted it,' " I think 
he must have answered, that he was inspired to dot 
the words — so dotted them as we now have them 
dotted in our Hebrew Bibles to this our day. 
Though I do not believe every word in our Bible is 
inspired, I believe the spirit of the Bible, the essence, 
as it were, of the Bible, is inspired, and these dotted 
words, if they mean what I have tried to show them 
to mean, if it is so, then they certainly were inspired^ 
so many years before Christ lived on this earth, if 
they were written so long ago, then they who wrote 
the words and dotted them were inspired — and in- 
spired by the Spirit of God. 

I may have made mistakes, as I do not know one 
word of the Hebrew, but I have tried to do this 
much, in hopes that some learned Hebrew scholar 
will take up the work and perfect it-=-for there are 
many more dotted words in the Hebrew Bible- 
dotted with one dot, so far as I can make out. 

This is only an attempt by a woman, who knows 



CA 



THE DOTTED WORDS 



her Bible, but who does not know one word of He- 
brew. With the help of an old Hebrew Bible, and 
her English Bible, she has tried to replace in this 
world what a woman effaced ** with a piece of pum- 
ice stone " years ago. 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament, 



GENESIS. 



Chap. 6, Verse 9 : 

Noah was a just man, 
perfect in his generation. 
And Noah walked with 
God. 



The Virgin Mary de- 
scended from Noah, and 
she was the human 
Mother of Christ. 



Chap. 12, Verse i : 

The Lord had said The Lord said to 

unto Abram, Get thee Joseph, Arise and take 

out of thy country, and the yotmg child and his 

from thy father's house, mother, and flee into 

unto a land that I will Egypt, 
shew thee. 



IN TIIIC HEBREW BIBLE. 



67 



Words with the inysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament. 

GENESIS — Continued. 

Chap. 12, Verse 10 : 

Abram went down And Joseph was there 
into Egypt to sojourn with the child until the 
there. death of Herod, as it 

was spoken by the 
prophet: *^ Out of Egypt 
have I called my son.'* 

Verse 20 : 

And Pharaoh sent him 
away. 



Chap. 18 : 

The Lord appeared 
unto Abraham in the 
form of three angels, as 
three men. They told 
him that nothing was 
impossible to God — that 
Sarah in her old age 
should have a son. 



Three, the Father, the 
Son, the Holy Ghost. 

Jesus has told us that 
nothing is impossible to 
God. 

Elisabeth, mother of 
John the Baptist, had a 
son in her old age. 



Chap. 23 : 
Abraham's 



purchase Joseph of Arimathsea 



68 



THK DOrrED WORDS 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament, 

GENESIS— Continued. 

of a cave for a sepul- took the body of Jesus 
chre. and laid it in a sepulchre 

that was hewn in stone. 



Chap. 26, Verse 19 : 

And Isaac's servants Jesus said to the 
digged in the valley, woman of Samaria, 
and found there a well " Whosoever drinketh of 
of springing water. the water that I shall 

give him shall never 
thirst, but the water 
that I shall give him 
shall be in him a well of 
water springing up into 
everlasting life." This 
woman said : ** I know 
that Messias cometh 
which is called Christ. 
When He is come He 
will tell us all things." 
Jesus said unto her, " I 
that speak unto thee 
am Her 



m TRl^ HEBREW BII^LE. 69 

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament. 

genesis—Continued. 

Chap. 28, Verse ii : 

And he lighted upon Jacob's dream — he saw 

a certain place, and tar- with his spirit what he 

ried there all night, could not see with his 

because the sun was set ; flesh, that the soul can 

and he took of the stones communicate with God. 

of that place and put The ladder by which the 

them for his pillows, soul reaches heaven is 

and lay down in that Christ. 

place to sleep. Sleep means the death 

of the body, not of the 

soul. 
Verse 12 : 

Jacob in his dream Jesus said, " Here- 
saw a ladder set up on after ye shall see heaven 
the earth, and the top open, and the angels 
of it reached to heaven ; of God ascending and 
and behold the angels descending upon the 
of God ascending and Son of Man. 
descending on it. 

Chap. ^iZ^, Verse 4 : 

Esau ran to meet Ja- Judas betrayed Jesus 

cob, and kissed him. Christ with a kiss. 



70 



THE DOTTED WoUf)^' 



Words 7m th the mysteri- What I find them to 7nean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament, 



GENESIS— Continued. 



Chap. 37, Verse 9 : 

Joseph's dream — " I 
have dreamed a dream 
more, and behold, the 
sun and the moon and 
the eleven stars made 
obeisance to me." 



Chap. 41, Verse 10 : 

Pharaoh's chief butler 
remembers Joseph, still 
in prison, and tells how 
he explained dreams, and 
that the interpretation 
came true. 



All will be put under 
the feet of Christ — the 
sun and the moon and 
the stars. 

The eleven tribes will 
make obeisance to the 
tribe in which Jesus 
was born. 

The disciples of Christ 
remembered after His 
death all that He had 
told them, what He had 
explained to them, and 
that all had come true. 



Chap. 45, Verses ii, 17 
and 18 : 

Joseph sends for his Christ leaves heaven to 

father and brethren to come to this earth to save 

come to Egypt, to save those who are His from 

them from poverty. poverty of spirit. 



IN tllli: lIliBftEW BIBLE. 



71 



Words with the mysteri- 
ous dots in the Hebrew. 



What 1 find them to m.ean 
in the New Testatnent. 



GENESIS— Continued. 



Chap. 44, Verse 19 : 

Judah offers himself to 
suffer and die, so as to 
save his brethren. 



Jesus Christ offers 
Himself to suffer and 
die, so as to save those 
who are His brethren. 



EXODUS. 



Chap. 6,Verses i and 14 : 
God speaks to Moses. 
He will lead them from 
Egypt to the promised 
land — He tells Moses 
that he appeared to 
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. 



Jesus leads us to God. 
He goes before us — to 
the promised rest. 
Christ said, " Verily^ 
verily, I say unto you, 
before Abraham was, I 
am." 



Chap. 10 : 

And the Lord said The signs of Jesus 

unto Moses, Show were shown before 

these my signs before Jerusalem, and the 

Pharaoh. Jews. 



n 



THE DOTTED WORD^ 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament. 

EXODUS— Continued. 



Chap. 14, Verse 16 : 

The Children of Israel 
go through the Red Sea. 



The baptism of Jesus. 



Chap. 18 : 

Jethro, the priest, givest Jesus, our Priest, gives 

counsel to Moses. counsel to His disciples. 

Chap. 20 : 

The Ten Command- Jesus also said we 

ments. must keep them. 



Chap. 25, Verses i, 2, 19 : 

Of giving willingly. Jesus gave Himself 

An ojBfering of the heart, willingly, and is above 

The mercy seat. the mercy seat. 



Chap. 26 : 

The veil of the taber- 
nacle. 



When Jesus died, the 
veil of the temple was 
rent in two. God was 
no longer hid from those 
who saw Him in Christ. 



m THE lIEBREW BIBLE. 



73 



Words 7mth the mysferi- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament. 

EXODUS— Continued. 

Chap. 30, Verses 10, 11 : 

Aaron shall make an Christ's atonement is 

atonement most holy most holy unto God. 
unto God. 



Chap. 34, Verses 22, 35 : 
The firstlings redeem- 
ed with a lamb. 

And Moses put a veil 
on his face. 



Chap. 37, Verse 43 
Seven lamps. 



Christ is the first fruit, 
first risen from the dead ; 
He is the lamb which re- 
deemed us. 

God's face is veiled 
from us, except in 
Christ. 

Seven churches of 
Christ. 



LEVITICUS. 



Chap. 6, Verses t, 25 : 

If a soul sin — 

In the place where 
the burnt offering is 
killed, shall the sin ofiEer- 



There are to be no more 
burnt offerings. Christ 
has died as a sin offer- 
ing. 



n 



tHE I)OTTi5i3 W()lil)g 



Words ivith the mysteri- 
ous dots in the Hebrew. 



What I find them to mean 
in the New Testament. 



LEVITICUS—CONTINUED. 

ing be killed before the His death before the 
Lord. It is most holy. Lord is most holy. 



Chap. 9 : 

Sin sufferings. 



Christ died to save ns 
from sin. 



Chap, ii and 12, Verse 

27 : 

What goes on all A child of flesh is 
fours is unclean. Bring therefore unclean, 
a lamb or two turtles, Mary, the Mother of 
two young pigeons, for the human body of 
an atonement. Christ, kept this law. 

Christ took upon Him 
our human flesh. He 
tells us that His, soul 
was sanctified by the 
Father, and sent into 
this world of sin. 

By taking our flesh 
from a pure virgin, He 
was able to die in the 
flesh for our atonement. 



IN THE HEBREW BIBLE. 



t5 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament, 



LEVITICUS— Continued. 



Chap. 14, Verse 28 : 
Cleansing with oil. 



Chap. 16 : 

The high priest must 
enter into the holy place, 
the sin offering, the 
scapegoat, the yearly ex- 
piations. 

Chap. 19, Verse 30 : 

And the Lord spake 
unto Moses, saying, 
" Speak unto all the con- 
gregation, and say unto 
them, ye shall be holy, 
for the Lord your God 
is holy. Ye shall keep 
My sabbaths, and rever- 
ence my sanctuary. I 
am the Lord. 



God's laws for cleans- 
ing the body to make it 
more fit as a dwelling- 
place for the soul. 

All refers to Christ. 
He is our High Priest, 
He has entered the holy 
place. 



. Christ preached to the 
congregations — multi- 
tudes in many places. 
He said, " Make not My 
Father's house a house 
o f merchandise. M y 
Father's house is a house 
of prayer.'* 



76 The r)OTTED words 

Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament. 

LEVITICUS— Continued. 

Chap. 21 : 

The priest must be Christ our High Priest 

holy — must not have a had no blemish, 
blemish. 

Chap. 25 : 

Redemption by the Christ is our redemp- 

priests. tion. 

Chap. 26, Verse '^^ : 

And I will scatter you Christ foretold the 

among the heathen, and destruction of Jerusa- 

will draw out a sword lem. Behold j^our house 

after you, and your land is left unto you desolate, 
shall be desolate and 
your cities waste. 

NUMBERS. 

Chap. 4, Verse 35 : 

From thirty years old And Jesus Himself be- 

and upward even unto gan to be about thirty 

fifty, every one that en- years of age. And He 

tereth into the service preached from the pro- 



Ilsr THE HEBREW BIBLE. 



77 



Words with the inysteri- What I find them to 7nean 

ous dots in the Hebrew. i7i the Neiv Testament. 

numbers—Continued. 

for the work in the tab- phet Esaias. The Spirit 
ernacle of the congrega- of the Lord is upon Me, 
tion. because He hath an- 

nointed Me to preach 
the gospel to the poor. 
He hath sent Me to heal 
the broken-hearted, to 
preach deliverance to 
the captives, and recov- 
ering of sight to the 
blind, to set at liberty 
them that are bruised, 
to preach the accepta- 
ble year of the Lord. 
Then Jesus said to them 
who heard him, ^' This 
day is this scripture ful- 
filled in your ears. The 
prophet Esaias spoke 
this of Christ.'' 



Chap. 8 : 

And the Lord spake 
unto Moses. 



Christ's age is given 
when He began to 



78 



THE DOTTED Yv^ORDS 



Words 7vith the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebreiv. in the New Testament, 

NUMBERS— Continued. 

The lamps, the age preach, 

and time of the service We should follow this 

of the Priest. rule. 

[This may also mean Christ kept the Pass- 

our Chapter 9.] over. 

The Passover is com- 
manded again. 

Chap. 13 : 

And the Lord spake True priest must be 
unto Moses. called to preach by God. 

The names of the men 
who were sent to search 
the land. 



Chap. 17 : 
Aaron's rod. 



Christ the son of 
David. 



Chap. 19 : . 

The water of separa- The uncleanness of a 

tion made of the ashes of dead body, be the body 

the red heifer. man or beast. 



IN THE HIOBREW BIBLE. 



79 



IVords with the mysteri- 
ous dots in the Hebrew. 



What I find them to mean 
in the New Testament. 



NUMBERS— Continued. 
Chap. 22 r 

And the children of 
Israel set forward. 



Verse 40 : 

And Balah offered 
oxen and sheep. 



Chap. 26, Verses 9, 10, 11 
and 41 : 

Those who strove 

against Moses were 

swallowed by the earth 



The story of Balah 
and Balaam — read Ba- 
laam's parable in verses 
19 to 25 — in our 2jd 
Chapter — " God is not 
a man that He should 
lie, neither the son of 
man that He should re- 
pent ; hath He said, and 
shall He not doit?" 

This is a strong proof 
of inspiration. The man 
could not speak any 
words but those God 
gave him to speak con- 
cerning Israel's people. 



Those who strive 
against God will be de- 
stroyed. Their children 



80 



THE DOTTED WORDS 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament, 

NUMBERS— Continued. 
with Korah. The chil- if they obey God will not 
dren of Korah died not. die. 

The sons of Benjamin 
after their families were 
45,600. 

Chap. 30 : 

Vows are not to be In the New Testament 
broken. Moses told the I find vow not at all, but 
children of Israel all that if you make a vow keep 
the Lord commanded it. 
Moses. 



Chap. 2,1 : 

The journey of the Is- 
raelites. 



Our life on this earth 
is only a journey. 



, DEUTERONOMY. 

Chap. 4, Verses 22, 23 : 

Moses — ** But I must Christ died on this 

die in this land." He earth in the human body, 

tells them : Take heed that we might live in. 

unto yourselves — make heaven. 



IN THE HEBREW BIBLE. 



81 



IVords with the mystcri- What J find them to mean 

Otis dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament, 

DEUTERONOMY--C0NTINUED. 



no graven image which 
God has forbidden thee. 



Verse 25 : 

The testimonies, the 
statutes, the judgments. 



Chap. 8, Verses ii, 12 

Beware that thou for- 
get not the Lord thy God, 
in not keeping His com- 
mandments, and jiidg- 



He told those who be- 
lieved Him, to take heed 
unto themselves, that 
they keep His command- 
ments. 

And when He is come, 
He will reprove the 
world of sin, and of 
righteousness, and of 
judgment. Of sin, be- 
cause they believe not on 
Me. Of righteousness, 
because I go to My 
Father, and ye see Me no 
more. Of judgment, be- 
cause the prince of this 
world is judged. 

And Jesus looked 
round about, and saith 
unto His disciples, how 
hardly shall they that 



82 



THE DOTTED WORDS 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew. in the New Testament. 

DEUTERONOMY— Continued. 

ments, and His statutes, have riches enter into the 

lest when thou prosper kingdom of God. 
in everything thou for- 
get God. 



Chap, id, Verse id : 

Moses and I stayed in 
the mount forty days and 
forty nights, that the 
Lord would not destroy 
thee. 



And Jesus was in the 
desert forty days and 
forty nights, bearing the 
temptations, that t he 
Lord would not destroy 
us. 



Either Chap. 12, Verse 
26, or Chap. 13, 
Verse 26 : 
Holy things in a holy 
place. 

Directions about 
money. 



Give not that which is 
holy unto dogs. 

Cast not your pearls 
before swine. 

Give money to the tem- 
ple of God, 



IX THE HEBREW I^IBLE. 



83 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew . in the New Testafnent, 



DEUTERONOMY— Continued. 



Chap. i8, Verses 17, 18 : 
And the Lord said unto 
me : They have well 
spoken. I will raise them 
lip a Prophet from among 
their brethren, like unto 
Moses, and I will put My 
words in his mouth, and 
he shall speak unto them 
all that I shall command 
him. 



Jesus Christ is the 
Prophet. He goes be- 
fore us in spirit, as Mo- 
ses led the people from 
Egypt. He was of the 
Hebrew people. He was 
the word of God. He 
spoke the words of God. 

Jesus saith, " My meat 
is to do the will of him 
that sent me and to fin- 
ish his work." 

"As the Father gave 
Me commandment, even 
so I do.'* 



Chap. 22, Verses 10, ii 
and 12 : 

About garments — not They parted the gar- 

of woolen and linen to- ments of Christ when 

gether. they crucified Him, 



84 



THE DOITED WORDS 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

ous dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament. 

DEUTERONOMY— Continued. 

Chap. 26 : 

Offer the first-fruits to Offer your first thanks 

God, and remember that to God from a pure 

God had given them a heart, and remember 

land to dwell in, and be that He made us free by 

free. Christ. 



Chap. 29 : 

Moses exhorteth them 
to obedience by the 
memory of the works 
they have seen. 



Chap. 30, Verses 8, 9 : 

God will bless and 
have mercy upon all who 
keep His commandments 
and statutes. 



Christ said: The 
works which the Father 
hath given Me to finish, 
the same works that I 
do, bear witness of Me, 
that the Father hath sent 
Me. 

Those who keep the 
words of Christ will God 
bless and have mercy 
upo-n. 



Chap. 31 : 

Moses spake to all Is- Christ foretold how He 
rael. Told them his age^ must die^ and al3o said it 



IN THE HEBEEW BIBLE. 



S5 



Words with the mysteri- What I find them to mean 

oiis dots in the Hebrew, in the New Testament, 

DEUTERONOMY— Continued. 



and that he had been was best for those who 

told by God that he him- loved Him, for then He 

self would not go over would send them the 

Jordan, but that they Holy Ghost, 
would go to the promised 
land and possess it. 



Chap. 32 : 

Moses is to die in 
Moimt Nebo. 

Chap. 33 : 

Moses blessed the 
children of Israel before 
his death. 



Jesus Christ died on 
Mount Calvary. 

Christ, "while He 
blessed them, He was 
parted from them, and 
carried up into heaven." 
And He also said : " Go 
j'e, and teach all nations 
baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost." 



BOOK III. 



THE 

RELIGIONS OF THE EAST 

OF THIS DAY : 

WHAT THEIR ROOT DECLARES 
THEM TO BE. 

[87] 



THE RELIGIONS OP THE EAST. 



BUDDHA. 

If Buddha was born about 620 B.C. and died 545 
B.C., he must have taught his disciples that Christ 
was expected to come to this earth, and he must 
have told them when to look for Him. And these 
disciples taught others, as they were taught. 

So, this being true, *^ the wise men from the East'' 
came to find Christ at the right time. 

" Where is He that is born King of the Jews, for 
we have seen His star in the East, and are come to 
worship Him ?" The star which they saw in the 
East went before them, until it came and stood over 
where the young Child was ; when they saw the 
star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 

Certainly these wise men expected Christ, they 
knew of the prophecy of Christ's coming. 

Now the Buddhist's say that Buddha was a wise 
man, pitiful, and honored ; and in their ignorance 
of Christ, they call Buddha the saviour of the world. 



90 rttM R^LIGtONS OF TFIE EASf. 

They knew a Saviour was promised, and that a 
star would lead them to find Him. So in their book 
of legends they speak of a star about the time of the 
birth of their Buddha, and many other things which 
were prophesied about Christ, which proves that 
they knew of the prophecies of Christ. 

How is it that they missed receiving Christ — that 
is, understanding about prophecies ? 

Their wise men who returned from Jerusalem 
must have carried home the news of the birth of 
Christ. 

If the Buddhists compare their Buddha to the 
true Christ, they will find that their Buddha is with- 
out the Divine nature of Christ. 

If their religion is so lost that extravagances dis- 
figure the record, should they not strive to look 
back in their records, and see if it is not Christ 
whose life and character as a man, whose miracles 
and death and resurrection as God, whose great 
mercy and love for mankind as a Saviour they have 
in their mistake imputed to their Buddha ? 

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY 
By H. p. Blavatsky. 

Having read the above book, I turn to the New 
Testament to think and study this book* I find 



THE RELIGIONS 01^ THE EAST. 91 

this : Christ came to this earth by the Divine Spirit ; 
which strove with mankind, which was dimly seen 
by men, understood by no people, until Christ the 
Divine took upon Him the nature of man. Because 
churches and dogmas have lost their way from 
Christ's teachings and life on this earth, is no reason 
that His teachings and life were in vain. The self- 
sacrifice of theosophy does not equal the self-sacri- 
fice which Christ teaches. The theosophy idea of 
punishment for evil done by each individual corres- 
ponds to the purgatory idea. 

All true thinkers realize that evil must have a 
punishment here and in the next world. 

As I believe in individual souls or spirits, I think 
the punishment will be hereafter in the full percep- 
tion of the evil we have done, until circle after cir- 
cle of evil dies away, like the circles made by the 
stone dropped into the placid lake — they extend 
very far, but they at last die away. However, we 
have been told that the soul that sinnest, it shall 
die. 

Now^ if it is true that these Eastern religions are 
obscure as to their commencement, there is but one 
conclusion about it, which is this : The wise men 
from the East who journeyed to Jerusalem to find 
Christ, whom they called the King of the Jews, the 
word king meaning the highest, the head of a 



92 TfilE liELlGIONS OF THE EAST. 

nation, the crown of the only one worthy of a 
crown. These men knew the prophecies about 
Christ, they were learned men, and they knew 
partly what Christ's mission on this earth was to be 
at His coming, and unless they had been taught of 
God, and been spiritual men, besides learned, they 
never would have expected at that time and looked 
for the Christ. They must have taught when they 
returned to the East all that they understood as to 
what the coming of Christ was to mean. 

Now the East, not having held fast to the true 
teachings of these wise men, has lost the simple and 
plain and beautiful rudiments of Christ's teachings. 

It is hard to believe that those wise men after 
finding Christ whom they had long expected, did 
not take means to follow and know the life and 
death of the same Christ whom they had found 
when He was only a child — try to understand His 
human and Divine life, human death, and at the 
last Divine life. The East loosing what the wise 
men taught them, their religion became obscure. 

The theosophists say that they believe the soul, 
after the death of the body, enters another body 
here on earth, so as through sufferings to be purified 
from former sins. As they cannot know that this is 
so, it makes very little difference. We know that 
nothing is impossible to God, and all thinking souls 



THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 93 

know ptinishment of some kind is due to sin, that sin 
cannot enter heaven, and that sin makes its own 
punishment, and 7iot that God makes the punish- 
ment, and that the soul that sinneth (which is so 
much worse than the sins of the body) // shall die. 

No one but the soul and the spirit from God 
knows that the soul has sin ; between these two is 
the sin known. This is the inward mind and 
thoug-ht towards God. 

Theosophists say that prayer kills self-reliance. 

We say on the contra r}^, prayer, secret and 
silent, is the only thing to give self-reliance. 
Prayer is almost always *' Help me to do — or not to 
do, a thing," ^* Help me to understand and judge 
rightly," ^* Help me to act and think rightl}^" ^* Give 
me courage, give me faith," ''Direct and guide me," 
'' Leave me not alone, support and comfort me." 
And we say, " according to o\xv faith it will be unto 
us." If I have a case in which I must act in haste 
I must in soul ask in haste for judgment as to how 
I must act. I believe I am guided, and I act. The 
final result of my action I cannot see at once, but I 
will see it sooner or later. 

Those who have not the habit of making a quick 
and sudden prayer, may say that prayer kills self- 
reliance, but others know that it does just the re- 
verse. Theosophy has taken from the New Testa- 



94 THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 

ment all that it has of good, and does not acknowl- 
edge that it owes all it knows of good to Christ. 

IN NATIVE LIFE IN SOUTH INDIA. 
By Henry Rice. 

We find '^ the Brahmins belong to the Aryan 
race, and came into South India about the begin- 
ning of the Christian era. They are fair featured, 
handsome and well built, courtly and polished in 
their manners, but haughty and crafty. 

*' Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, of 
Judea, in the days of Herod the king, behold there 
came wise men from the East to Jerusalem, saying, 
* Where is He that is born King of the Jews ? For 
we have seen His star in the East, and are come to 
worship Him/ And when they were come into the 
house they saw the young Child with Mary, His 
mother, and fell down and worshipped Him, and 
when they had opened their treasures [what they 
valued most] they presented unto Him gifts, gofd 
and frankincense and myrrh, and being warned of 
God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, 
they departed into their own country another way'" 

They went to South India, not to the north of 
India, and the pure faith of the Brahmins at its root 
was faith in Christ, 



THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 95 

Now the wise men who went to Jerusalem guided 
by a star, perhaps v/ere the Brahmins from India, 
where it is supposed that every one has a guardian 
star — or that a star appears in the heavens for the 
first time at the birth of some important person. 

These men had heard through the prophets of tha 
promise that Christ should be born in the nation of 
the Jews, and after finding the young Child they 
returned to their country another way. 

They did not wait to see and learn by the life of 
Christ the full meaning of His birth and death, but 
they carried back this much, that a Son had been 
born who would save the race of mankind from 
their sins, and through this Son alone mankind 
would enter heaven. Hence their idea that a man 
must have a son, and not a daughter, for the sake 
of eternal life hereafter. This idea can be found in 
** High Caste Hindu Women," a book written by a 
Hindu woman — Ramaibai. 

Although the code of Manu contains a single pas- 
sage in which it is written ^* A daughter is equal to 
a son" (See Manu, ix., 130), the context expressly 
declares that equality to be founded upon the results 
attainable through her son ; the passage, therefore, 
cannot be regarded as an exception to the statement 
that the ancient code establishes the superiority of 
ipal? children, h- son is the most coveted of all 



96 THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 

blessings that a Hindu craves, for it is by a son's 
birth in the family that the father is redeemed. 

** Through a son he conquers the worlds, through a son's 
son he obtains immortality, but through his son's grandson 
he gains the world of the sun." — Manu, ix., 137. 

" There is no place for a man (in heaven) who is destitute 
of male offspring." — Vasisktka, xvii., 2. 

If a man is sonless, it is desirable that he should 
have a daughter, for her son stands in the place of a 
son to his grandfather, through whom the grand- 
father may obtain salvation. 

''Between a son's son and the son of a daughter there 
exists in this world no difference ; for even the son of a 
daughter saves him who has no sons, in the next world 
like the son's son." — Manii, ix., 139. 

Does not this mean that the Hindu race may 
remember certain teachings and beliefs, come down 
to them in their early religion, partly lost and not 
fully understood ? Such as, it is by a son's birth on 
this earth that mankind will be redeemed ; through 
this son we will conquer the world, we will obtain 
immortality ; we enter heaven through the son, but 
our son is the Son of God. The Hindus seem to 
have a dim idea of the great truth in what they 
have to say about life in the next world. 



THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 97 

Some day the whole truth may break upon their 
minds, and they will know that the true Son who 
redeems the world is Jesus Christ, and by Him 
alone they will conquer themselves and obtain im- 
mortality — and also understand that Jesus raised 
woman to a great height, far above man, when He 
was born of a woman. 



VISHNU. SHIVA. SURAJA. 

These three essences make the god of the Budd- 
hists. 

This is doubtless a dim idea of the Trinity. 

Then, again, their legend of Buddha giving him- 
self to feed the starving tigress, so as to save the 
life of the tigress and of her young, is also some 
dim idea of Christ leaving heaven to give Himself 
by death to save mankind alive, and a mankind 
which was not much above a tigress and her 
young. 

Also they say the prince of darkness sought to 
shake their Buddha's mind. This is doubtless a dim 
idea of Christ's temptation in the desert. 

Their Nirvana means forgetfulness of this life's 
evil ; they try to explain that their soul as well as 
their body dies, but that their spirit lives forever. 
They simply mean, what we believe, that the spark 



98 THE RELIGIONS OF THE EAST. 

from God which is in us, be it called soul or spirit, 
can never die, since it is a spark from God. 

In all these Eastern religions, which I have care- 
fully read, I find at the root of them all is the same 
belief — which is nothing more or less than the relig- 
ion of Christ — in fact, the best in all is taken from 
the New Testament — that is, the books written 
since the New Testament. In the " Key to Theo- 
sophy,*' they quote from the New Testament, use 
the words found in the New Testament, and then 
claim that an older religion than the Christian relig- 
ion has been quoted by the followers of Christ, for- 
getting that the Divine iiature of Christ was before 
the world was made. 



BOOK IV. 



REFLECTIONS. 

[99] 



REFLECTIONS. 



"Totemism in the Evolution of Theology," by Mrs. 
C. K, Barnum in Popular Science Monthly^ Jan., 1893. 

Here we find the old belief that we had animal 
ancestors. This certainly proves that our belief is not 
a wild one, and that our researches in the Bible 
prove the same ; that is, that in our bodies of flesh 
and blood we descend from animals, and we trace 
animals to vegetable life, as science shows, and far 
back to the pulse of life, a broken fragment of the 
life once in heaven, and found on this earth on 
account of the fall of Satan — that is, the fall of sin 
from Heaven, or Eden to this earth. 

In all of the above- written Totemism, and in the 
account of the religions of the world, we see this : 
t\\e fo7^eshadowing of Christianity. No one can travel 
through Egypt without seeing the dim light of 
Christianity foreshadowed by the old religion of 
Egypt, unless one is determined not to see it. We 
think in all thCvSe old religions, we see the struggle 
in the minds of the people to find out God. They 

fioij 



102 EEFLECTIONg. 

found him not, until Christ came, and by his life 
and teachings showed us the way to find out God. 
All the struggles in the minds of the people for 
light on the subject were slowly answered by the 
evolution of the mind. The evolution of the human 
body having ceased, the evolution of the mind com- 
menced ; and this evolution has still much, very 
much before it now. h.^ purity of thought, and truth 
of thought advance ; the expression and features of 
our face will change ; they will be nobly calm 
and impressive in expression, what I believe the 
features of Christ were like, — nobly calm, they must 
have been, though we are not told anything about 
it. We are told much about His speech. ** Never 
man spake like this man." And when He said to the 
soldiers who came to arrest Him, '' Whom seek ye," 
and answered them, *' I am He," we are told that 
these soldiers went backward and fell to the ground. 
When He spoke these words, we can but think that 
the face of Christ, as well as the words, caused the 
fright and terror of these soldiers. 

We have just been reading the above, proving the 
history of those old religions. We have, also, been 
reading a history which proves to us that our belief — 
or call it religion if you will — is true j all others be- 
fore it only foreshadow it. The evolution of the mind 
finally became ready for Christianity, and yet we 



ItEFLECTlONS. 103 

have much, much more to learn ; and the Holy 
Spirit, which Christ promised us, will guide us to 
a fuller truths so that no law we break will be 
changed for our benefit. 

No matter how sad the case may be, the law will 
not be changed ; as we sow so must we reap, and, 
alas ! as we sow for others, so must they reap. 

To expect good from our wrongdoings, is de- 
cidedly ^''tempting God,'' and to do so, we all know, 
is a great sin. 

It has often been asked : Does a good God send 
suffering to his children ? Why is it that not only 
the guilty, but the innocent so often suffer and have 
to bear burdens grievous to be borne ? We know 
that children suffer from the sins of their parents 
and more remote ancestors. The natural laws make 
it so. Why, then, ask if it is God who has sent the 
suffering ? Let us discriminate and lay not to Provi- 
dence what is due alone to man's ignorance or to 
man's sin. 

Sickness and death sometimes come from one's 
ow^n wrongdoing, sometimes from the wrongdoing 
of others, sometimes from our own ignorance or 
from the ignorance of others ; vSo that we should 
not say that the evils are ordered by God, or sent 
by God to us. We cannot expect a miracle to 
happen for us. 



104 REFLECTIONS. 

ST. Peter's gospel. 

In the ^^ Newly-recovered Gospel of Saint Peter," 
by J. Rendel Harris, we read this : In speaking of the 
book of Enoch it is said, *^ It is probable that in some 
form or other it was part of our Lord's own library." 
Now, the Spirit which dwelt in the earthly body of 
Christ, was the Spirit of God, and Christ knew all 
things by that Spirit, for it is said in John vii. 15, 
" And the Jews marvelled saying, how knoweth this 
man letters having never learned^ Christ our Lord, 
we think, had no library, and learned not as we 
learn ; for when He was a child He was found in 
the Temple "sitting in the midst of the doctors, 
both hearing and asking them questions, and all that 
heard Hi?n were astonished at his understanding and 
answers." He needed no library. 

In reading on in this same St. Peter's Gospel, we 
are glad to see that a woman, " blessed Perpetua," in 
the year 203, had knowledge and learning in Scrip- 
tures. 

And, again, we read this : " There was unbelief in 
the humanity of Jesus ; some said there was, indeed, a 
man Jesus, upon whom the superior Christ descended 
at his baptism, thus constituting him the son of God; 
but they went on to teach, that at the Crucifixion 
the man Jesus was deserted by the Being who had 
descended upon him." We do not find this difficult to 



REFLECTIONS. 105 

understand, if we truly believe in the double nature 
of Christ, His human nature the same as ours, 
His Divine nature which was of God. His human 
nature suffered death, and in His human nature, and 
for it, he spoke the words, " My God, my God, why 
hast thou forsaken me !" Jesus having died in the 
flesh (human nature), can be with us in our death ; 
and by that death of His, we kfiow and are sure, that 
He knows what death in the flesh, or human body, 
is to us. 

But when Jesus cried in a loud voice, and said, 
"' Father, into Thy hands I commend my Spirit," it 
was the Divine nature of Christ which spoke, and 
by speaking thus he assured us that we have souls 
or spirits, and that we should give them to God, 
living or dying. As we read on we find this, — that 
Christ, when tormented, was silent, as if in nowise 
feeling pain. We think that being silent does not 
mean that pain is not felt, it only means great con- 
trol over the human body. And that is the lesson 
Christ has taught us ; we are told that when Christ 
was reviled, that He reviled not again. We are told 
but once in the Scriptures that Christ ever said any- 
thing near a complaint ; and it was this, if it can be 
called a complaint, " Foxes have holes, but the Son 
of Man hath nowhere to lay his head." Christ in the 
flesh was the son of mankind, and that human body 



106 tefTLECTlOI^g. 

had nowhere to la}' his head, or rest, on this earth. 
He came to take a human body so as to be the 
Saviour of human bodies. We have tried to show how 
we believe that human nature descended from Satan 
and brute beasts, and Christ came to be the Saviour 
of these suffering descendants of brute beasts, des- 
tined to perish as brute beasts ; but within these 
bodies was the soul, and the soul was struggling 
with the flesh to be free, and to return to Heaven. 
And Christ came to show us the way back to 
Heaven, and so be the Saviour of mankind. 

LOVE AND PASSION. 

Love has lived on this earth but once. It is the 
opposite of passion. Though the word ** Love " has 
often been used to express the affections of human 
men and women, yet there is nothing of love in 
the affection of a man for a woman, or a woman 
for a man, or even in the affection of a mother 
for her child. And why ? Because there is too 
much of self-seeking in all these affections. It has 
been proved that if you take a child from its moth- 
er as soon as it is born, and she sees it no more 
until it is a man or woman, that the tender affec- 
tion, so often called Love, no longer exists in the 
mother for her child. And, otherwise, the affection 
is so mixed with self : the child is her child ; it 
gives her much pleasure ; often the same as a 



REFLECTIONS. 107 

doll would give a child pleasure. She can see no 
faults in it, because it is her child. Nor is her affection 
for it as strong when it becomes a man or woman. 
It is self-pride that makes her wish the child to do 
well in the world. Her instincts to feed it, care for it, 
and defend it, are exactly the same as the instincts 
in animals — the lioness, the tigress, what will they 
not do for their young ? — they feed them, they care 
for them, they fight for tnem. 

The affection of sisters and brothers depends 
upon their being together when young ; a family 
pride which is praiseworthy, and which does not 
always exist ; for often a jealous feeling between 
them mars the family pride. Yet, even in the last 
case, they sometimes stand by each other, above all 
when it is best for self to do so — a three-fold cord 
being stronger than a single cord. But self again 
comes in here. Then the affections of man and 
woman — passion, in other words — is all self ; the 
purest married woman, if she speaks the truth, 
will say so. Where is the man or woman who so 
loves the other as to be willing to suffer for the 
loved one, to live apart all their lives for the good 
of others, others who are ev^en yet unborn; who feed, 
care for, defend and fight for the loved one, though 
it brings no profit to self, no pleasure to self, no 
gratification to self ; though it bring only sorrow 



108 REFLECTIONS. 

and suffering to self ? Is there no such man or 
woman ? then call not passion love. Do the ani- 
mals love each other ? I think not. The man or 
woman who dies for his country comes near to love. 
Still, there is self even in this ; it is his country ; he 
reaps some benefit should he return from the war 
alive. No, Love has lived but once on this earth, 
and that Love was Christ. Read His life and see 
what He suffered ; how He lived and died ; see 
if you can find self in an3^thing He said or did. 
What is Love ? It is this : Love suffereth long, and 
is kind ; is not selfish or proud of self, does not 
behave unseemly, is not easily provoked, thinkest 
no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, beareth all 
things, believeth all good, hopeth all good, en- 
dureth all things. It never fails ; it is greater than 
faith and hope. Love is Christ ; it came to this 
earth with Him, it was never here before, and 
those who follow Him truly have a semblance of 
that Love. 

WOMEN. 

Should it be said that women have nothing to do 
with Church affairs, let us here make answer, that 
it is women who for many years have filled the 
Churches ; some congregations are wholly made up 
by women. The women, then, are the ones who 
have listened to the j^reac hers ^ and hearing what was 



REFLECTIONS. 109 

preached they have increased in knowledge; it, then, 
would be strange if, by this time, the women knew 
nothing of Church affairs, or of Church doctrines 
and of dogmas. If they were still ignorant of these 
things, how would it reflect on the teachers and 
preachers ? Would it not prove that they, the preach- 
ers, knew nothing of Church affairs, if of these 
things their congregations were ignorant. Now, all 
congregations in Churches are more than two-thirds 
women. Are riot w^omen, then, fit to have much work 
in Church affairs ? 

JAPAN. 

In reading about Japan, in a book by William 
Elliot Griffis, in the chapter, ^' The Japanese Story of 
Creation," we find the names of the earth Deities : 
Mud, Earth ; Lord, Mud ; Earth, Lady. This is very 
similar to Science tracing back our origin to a 
pulsating heart on a muddy beach. 

Also, the Japanese idea of the god Izanagi find- 
ing his wife in a region of awful foulness, and his 
wife a mass of worms. 

Science also traces back to foulness and worms 
as our origin. 

Then heaven and earth, united by a pillar, a dim 
idea of Jacob's ladder or pillar, heard correctly 
once, but lost in legends. Then, again, the expres- 
sions, '' the mirror of her soul," '* a sword of divine 



110 REFLECTIONS. 

temper," are Christian expressions. And, again, the 
idea of a mysteriously born child, a son, is also Chris- 
tian. We think this is so, and we also read in this 
book on Japan, '' According- to the old chronicles, 
it was about the beginning of the Christian era that 
the first rudiments of civilization began to appear." 
The book also says that *' many of the gods had 
tails, and some of them had horns," — another small 
proof that Science is right, when it says we are 
descendants of the animals. The Japanese have 
mixed truth with fiction, as a great many other 
nations have also done. 

THE IMAGE OF GOD. 

*' If we suppose a material relation between the 
image and the object as well as between the shadow 
and the object, it becomes evident that the savage 
would comport himself similarly toward the image, 
the shadow, and the object. From his point of view 
the image and the object are in close relation, and 
an action upon one would operate in the same way 
upon the other. By this way of looking at things, as 
Sir John Lubbock says, the savage is convinced that 
an injury done to the image is inflicted upon the 
original ; or, to use the words of Mr. Taylor, he 
thinks that by acting upon the copy he will reach 
the original. The evidences are many that demon- 
strate the importance attributed by savages to this 
mode of action on the original. Waitz relates, after 
Denghame, that in a tribe of western Africa it was 
dangerous to make a portrait of the natives, because 
they were afraid that by some kind of sorcery a 
part of their soul would pass into their image. 

*^ Such was the function of drawing at its origin. 



REFLECTIONS. Ill 

An Indian song admirably explains this function 
in the words '' My drawing has made a god of me." 
Faith could hardly be more vigorously expreSwSed in 
the power of the art of drawing as an instrument 
by the aid of which primitive man obtained a super- 
natural power over his enemy or his game. Re- 
garding the works of tlie cave men in the light of 
these facts, we perceive that the purpose that in- 
spired them had few points in common with the 
sense of the beautiful or the tendency to imitation ; 
and it is clear that if there existed in the mind of 
the primitive man a material relation between a be- 
ing and its shadow or its image, that man thought 
that the same relation was preserved between the 
being and its image when transferred to any object 
whatever. The purpose to be reached was to pos- 
sess the shadow of the coveted object, and the only 
means of accomplishing it was to fix upon some- 
thing or another the silhouette of that shadow. 

^'Animals by instinct devour and destroy each 
other in their pursuit of life. Men in uncivilized 
states do the same thing in effect ; and it is quite 
clear that we have not yet fully outgrown the ani- 
mal instinct in this direction. But we all under- 
stand that it is right to do so, and, if we do not, we 
at least pretend that we do, and only eat each other 
metaphorically. 

*' Men have been slow to ask what is the better 
and wiser course to pursue, and have inclined to 
follow their more brutish instincts." 

The above is from '' The Origin of Painting," by 
M. Lazar Popoff. 

How did the savage first get this idea ? Some 
dim idea of their forefathers, handed down to them. 
Mankind was made in the image of God. The im- 



112 KEFLECTIONS. 

age of God, being the soul of man, any injury done 
to the soul of man is inflicted upon the original ; 
that is, in trying to injure the soul of anyone, 
you are trying to injure God. The Holy Spirit, 
sent by Jesus to us, is fixed upon our souls like the 
silhouette of a shadow, and it draws us to God and 
raises us above the animal in us, and helps us to 
resist our brutish instincts. 

KNOWLEDGE. 

Knowledge can come but slowly to those in the 
flesh. We are told that we shall be judged accord- 
ing to our knowledge. As St. Paul writes it, *^ And 
the times of this ignorance God winked at," he 
means partly passed over. 

Those who oppose new ideas, because they them- 
selves are ignorant, or who are mistaken through 
thinking that they are preventing evil by doing so, 
are in truth d.oing great harm^ and are opposing the 
Spirit of God. 

If the ideas come to science or religion, it is wise 
to look into the subject, and try these new ideas. 
We have been told by St. John, '^ Believe not every 
spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God ; 
those that confess that Jesus Christ has come in the 
flesh are of God." 

Also, in Acts, we find this, ^' If this counsel or this 
work be of men it will come to naught, but if it be 



EKFLECTIONS. 113 

of God ye cannot overthrow it ; lest haply (by 
chance) ye be found even to fight against God/' 

To oppose knowledge, then, is to be on the side of 
Satan. Satan within us will always oppose knowl- 
edge from God. The wisdom or knowledge which 
Satan tried to get, so as to put it to an evil purpose, 
w^as wdsdom or knowledge belonging wholly to God. 
It has been proved by Satan's descendants in the 
flesh to be dense ignorance in Satan and in us. 

These opposers to knowledge or to new ideas do 
a great deal of harm in one way ; at the same time 
they unwillingly stir np pure minds to try the new 
idea, and find out if it be of man or of God. What 
is of God cannot die. It will triumph over ignor- 
ance, opposition, ridicule, envy, disbelief, and over 
Satan within us. Those who w^ere faithful to the 
knowledge they had of God in their generation, are 
those who in the parable of the laborers (Matt. xx. 12) 
received the same reward as those who had borne 
the burden and heat of the day. The first were 
true to the knowledge which they had of God ; the 
last have gained in their generation more light, more 
knowledge of God, and being true to the knowledge, 
they labor accordingly, and receive from God the 
same reward hereafter ; though they profit by the 
knowledge gained by the first, who have borne the 
burdeu and heat of their day, striving in their souls 



114 REFLECTIONS. 

for the knowledge of God ; for the vineyard of the 
parable we are told, is the symbol of the kingdom of 
heaven, and the parable was told to those who 
heard it, by Christ, my Lord and Master. 

LIGHT. 

Matt. V. i6 : '' Let your light so shine before men, 
that they may see your good works, and glorify 
your Father which is in heaven.** Light can only 
dwell in the human mind ; therefore, if to your mind 
has come a new and bright thought on any subject, 
by giving it to the world you '' let your light shine 
before men." These are the words of my Lord and 
Master, Jesus Christ ; therefore we obey his com- 
mand in trying to give our thoughts to the world. 

Jesus, in teaching the multitudes, said to them, 
to impress this command on their minds : ** Ye are 
the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill 
cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and 
put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick ; and it 
giveth light unto all that are in the house.** 

, KNOWLEDGE. 

We must know for ourselves the God we believe 
in. '* And they shall not teach every man his neigh- 
bour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the 
Lord : for all shall know me, from the least to the 
greatest.** Hebrews viii. ii. 

Has not this time^come ? Is it not povssible, for all 



KEFLECTTONS. 115 

who will, to know the Lord through Christ ? We 
have our Bibles, we can study them ourselves ; we 
have minds more enlightened than those of old days 
gone by. We cannot, then, blame others if we 
know not the Lord. 

ON IGNORANCE. 

Ignorance is a very dreadful thing. If a child 
can ask a question which an old person cannot 
answer, what does it prove ? As we have said before, 
no thought^ on the side of wivsdom, can come to any 
human mind without the possibility that it is near 
to the truth. 

When Christ said that we must become as little 
children, " Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall 
not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he 
shall not enter therein," we understand it to mean, 
first, purity of thought ; undoubting faith in those 
whom the child trusts, and straight forward ques- 
tions, prompted by wakening thoughts, which show 
a desire to learn the truth and gain knowledge. 

Having been a child, we can affirm that children 
ponder in thought, and thinking those the}^ love and 
trust must know, they ask questions, and being re- 
buffed sharply, they sink into themselves. Some 
ponder all their lives in silence ; others give up these 
questions of their souls and think of other things, 
and so lose the power of deep questioning thoughts. 



116 REFLECTIONS. 

This is the reason that Christ said, " Suffer the little 
children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for 
of such is the kingdom of God." 

Suffer them to ask questions about Christ and His 
teachings, for their young minds receive deep im- 
pressions, which remain all their lives with them. 
They may forget for a time in the battle for their 
earthly life, but in old age the mind reverts to child- 
hood. Think, then, of the glorious blessing the con- 
viction of truths in their minds will undoubtingly 
be to them then. Suffer little children to go to 
Christ by your answers to their questions. On you, 
w^ho are the parents of children, this great and 
everlasting responsibility rests. 

Do not be ignorant, and then you will not be 
under the influence of any one. That a woman 
should be wholly under the influence of man or 
woman, seems to us a most pitiable thing ; such a 
condition could not exist but through ignorance. It 
was Jesus who said, *' The truth shall make you 
free,'' you can not get truth by ignorance. To be 
wholly ignorant is to be a slave ; a slave to yourself, 
and easily made a slave to others. 

SCIENCE. 

There should be no warfare between Science 
and Religion, for they go hand in hand ; as the 
jxiind and thought ^row stronger and clearer, it is 



REFLECTIONS. 117 

the continued evolution of ourselves. It is also a 
gift from God ; for we all know how suddenly we 
can lose our minds, by illness, by an accident, by 
many causes not in our power to prevent ; and 
though by study we gain knowledge, the power to 
do so is not ours. See how slowly man has gained 
his knowledge. Generation by generation we hand 
down the knowledge gained, and another generation 
adds to the knowledge more knowledge. Christ 
said to those who heard him, that he had many 
things to tell them, but they could not bear it then. 
Their minds were not advanced enough to under- 
stand what he had to tell them. They would have 
put a wrong meaning to his words, and done more 
harm by it than good. So he told them not ; but 
he certainly meant that w^e, and those who come 
after us should, by searching the Scriptures, see, and 
rightly understand by the help of our advanced 
thought of strengthened minds. It is Christ who 
told us: " Ask, and it shall be giv^en you ; seek, and 
ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
you ; for everyone that asketh, receiveth; and he 
that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it 
shall be opened." This Christ said, adding that 
God wnll give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him; 
and the Holy Spirit is knowledge of all truths. 
Science is a gift from God. By it he permits man- 



118 REFLECTIONS. 

kind to work the marvels of these days, things 
which to the ignorant would surely seem as mira- 
cles. Those who study science have faith in their 
study. They never would persevere had they not 
facth to do so ; and we cannot believe that anyone 
pursuing a mental study does not realize that the 
gift is from God^ when he suddenly sees by his 
mind and comprehends that he has gained a thought^ 
which he sees is possible to be created in substance, 
or which proves a truth, and which is totally new 
to him, will he not be frank enough to say : *' Not 
by my might, or by my power, but by Thine, oh, 
my God/* We cannot believe, nor do we believe, that 
anyone in his inmost soul, does not realize that it is 
a gift, and a gift from God. He may not be noble 
enough to say so, or he may have false pride and try 
and persuade himself that by his own might and by 
his own power he has gained the thought. He does 
not realize his double nature ; Satan in the flesh, able 
to think by the flesh ; and the other nature, the soul, 
from God, that spark of life through which he has 
in truth gained the noble thought which has just 
given him light upon the study his mind is follow- 
ing. All Christ's teachings were to give us knowl- 
edge and faith to gain the Knowledge of what is true. 
Think good, do not think evil. Think, that is what we 
find Christ tried to make everyone do to whom He 



I^EFLECTlOiT^. 119 

spoke. He asked them questions which caused 
them to think before they could answer him. He 
came to elevate their minds, to open their under- 
standings ; when He knew they could only under- 
stand by figurative speech, He used figurative 
speech ; but there were some whom He knew could 
understand if they thought in their inward souls, 
and he led them to do that. There are many things 
we cannot understand about the life of Christ ; but 
all this warfare, so called, between science and re- 
ligion, will bring many things to the light. We 
should never forget that the true warfare on this 
earth is between good and evil, and the warfare is 
within us, each individually. Individuals follow 
each other ; and, not using the minds God has given 
them, they follow the evil in others, and make up a 
strong body of evils against which good must fight. 
Ah! the battle will never cease ; for Satan, or sin, 
or any name which means evil^ is in our body of flesh 
and blood, fighting the sparks of true life which is 
in us, and which is the true /. As we conquer, so 
we get nearer to the Heaven (Eden) which we lost 
years and years ago when Satan, or sin, fell from 
Heaven to this earth. 



120 REFLECTIOKS. 

SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE. 

The Bible tells us the truth ; if we do not see it, it 
is because we will not, or if we are honest about it, 
and still do not see it, it is because we have not 
studied the Bible rightly — we must search the Bible. 
We search for hidden truths in science, and in every- 
thing else in which we take a deep interest. We must 
always remember the times and customs of the 
world when the Bible was written, the nation, the 
race, the knowledge of those days. They misunder- 
stood the Christ ; they were too weak and ignorant 
to be taught in any way but by parables ; they asked 
always for signs and wonders, miracles. If we boast 
in these days of our intelligence, how is it that we 
are not better than they ? It is the Holy Spirit who 
works the miracles of these days and works in the 
minds of men and women ; helps them slowly to 
grow; to find out and work out new truths in science, 
and medicine, and all things to elevate man- 
kind to a higher level. That these gifts for our 
good are also used by evil persons to evil purposes, 
is no reason why they are not good in themselves. 
It has always been so, and will always be so, here. 
For, look yourself and see ; is there any good thing 
in the world that cannot also be used for evil? 

Speaking of St. Luke, the physician, we have been 



REFLECTIONS. l2l 

reading in Popular Science, " Miracles and Medi- 
cine/' a true and sad story how the watchmen who 
watch for Christ's Jflock get negligent, and so get 
blinded that they do not see. How different are those in 
the ministry now from those whom Christ put there. 
This, we think, has arisen first, from true Chris- 
tians justly wishing Christ*s ministers to receive the 
reverence due to their office, — in giving it to them 
they gave it to Christ. In their love for Christ they 
did not wish His priests or ministers to be poor and 
despised, until they made them to stand on this 
earth as high or higher than earthly kings, in all 
earthly things, so that the priests and ministers 
themselves forgot how poor the Saviour was on 
earth, and at last lost sight of His glory and honor 
in attaining their own glory, ease and riches ; hence 
the reason that true Christianity has advanced only 
in slow degrees and secret places. But, though small, 
they leaven the whole. Who, in his secret heart, will 
say that any Christian nation, calling themselves 
so, are in truth Christian ? Christ, we think, chose 
all His apostles for 7nany reasons. We know He knew 
them as God knows them. We are told what their 
trade or profession was. We know, somewhat, what 
effect these professions or the ways they earned a liv- 
ing would have on their character (in those days which 
are not these days). Now, Christ chose a physician^ 



122 I^EFLECTIONS. 

what we call a doctor, and in his presence He healed 
7nany sick. Through the knowledge He sends to the 
doctors (^honest, of course), He sends to humanity His 
blessings. How honest, how pure, how earnest, 
should our women physicians be. We do not read that 
Christ said that only those in the ministry should be 
physicians ; we think we see just the reverse. But He 
chose one ; so that this great gift to suffering people, 
the knowledge to acre the suffering, to save human life, 
is a gift from God, and should be rightly used. Yet 
this knowledge to cure is often used for evil. 

Also, the Saviour chose the doctor, St. Luke, to be 
constantly with him on earth, as he could testify to 
the miraculous in Christ's life on earth. 

It is through pride and ignorance that the school 
of physicians has been so put back, as '* Miracles and 
Medicine," by Andrew Dickson White, tells us. Alas, 
we not do yet fully understand Christ's life and teach- 
ings. He did not try to retard knowledge. He 
labored to teach it. It is ecclesiastic pride and jeal- 
ousy for seify and not as it should be for Christ, jeal- 
ousy for God's honor and glory and praise, that would 
make them check any knowledge for good, which 
comes to any man or women. They are proud of 
their sect, not because it is doing good to mankind, 
but because it is theirs. This, we think, has been the 
evil which has retarded all knowledge and all good. 



leEFLEOTIONS. 123 

Christ, in His grand life, set the example that His 
ministers should follow. Kill self in your efforts to 
advance His religion and to do good in the world. 
Be able to act and say of another who is advancing 
Christ's religion that " He must increase, but I must 
decrease.'* These were the words which John the 
Baptist was able to speak, when he spoke of Christ 
and of himself. If it is Christ you are working for, 
and not iox yourself ^ then you would be able to say 
this of yourself. 

We have read that science says that the present 
formation of the earth, where Noah's flood was sup- 
posed to have taken place, shows that the flood was 
impossible. It could not have been a very deep 
thinker who said this, for if Science tells us that they 
can tell where mountains of ice have changed the 
formation of the land, such a flood as in Noah's time 
undoubtedly would change the formation of the 
land. The retreating of such a mass of water 
w^ould carry all dead matter with it to the sea, and 
earth and stone. However, we know nothing of 
science, we only give you our thoughts. 

THE CHURCH. 

In a review we have read a few words on ' The 
Future of Christianity," by Mr. W. M. Salter. We 
agree with him that the Churches do not understand 
their Master. We are surprised to learn that liberal 



124 fiiJFLECTlONS. 

Christians think it a great achievement to discover 
that Jesus was a man ; but there is no special value or 
inspiration in this discovery. From our very young 
days we understood the double nature of Jesus and 
the great value of his being a man like unto us, able 
to understand us, to feel for us, to know by being like 
us how to teach us to know God. Through His other 
nature, the strong, pure, Spirit of God, divine be- 
cause of God, and by being divine, he was able to 
lead our souls to God. We do not think that Jesus 
would ever punish or abase, or put evil men in 
chains. , By his searching questions he would make 
us use our own minds and thoughts ; and they^ 
aroused by him, would punish and abase us and put 
evil men in the chains of their own conscience. 
Jesus came to this world for evil men, for proud 
persons, for wickedness of all sort ; for it was with 
such persons that he passed his days, doing his 
Father's will, wakening the soul so imprisoned 
within the body, which has descended from Satan. 
Not until the soul of each person conquers his body 
can the true religion stand ; it is not out in the 
world, it is within each one of us that the battle goes 
on. Ah ! yes, the people must understand that 
justice to others, and not all for self, is the true 
religion. 



REFLECTIONS. 125 

ST. PAUL. 

Can it be believed (and yet it is true) that in these 
davs a man in his sermon, in a church full of 
women, has said to them, '' St. Paul has told us 
how a woman should be adorned ?" The w^omen to 
w^hom this was strictly addressed were dressed in 
the deepest of black mourning, they did not have 
braided hair, w^ere sober, had no gold, or pearls, or 
costly array. They did all the good work of the 
church in which the sermon was preached. These, 
and other women, have all their lives learned in 
*' all subjection^'' and though St. Paul has said, '' I 
suffer not a woman to teach,'' yet women in these 
days teach both boys and girls in the Church schools. 

Now, let us say a few words concerning this mis- 
taken idea about women, and show, if we can, what 
the Church has lost in throwing this yoke on the 
w^omen. 

Any reasonable person would understand that the 
women to whom Paul addressed these words were 
largely different from the women who in these days 
fill the Churches. Also, Paul says, ^' / i-^^^r not a 
woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the 
man, but to be in silence.'' This is no command 
from Christ ; every word uttered or written by Paul 
is not inspired, nor does he in his Epistles say that 
they are so. He frequently says they are his own 



126 REFLECTIONS. 

words and thoughts ; for he said, •* But I speak this 
by permission, and not of commandment." 

Paul sa3^s women should adorn themselves with 
shamefacedness. Now, we think that there is but one 
reason why women, also men, should show shartie 
in their faces, and that kind of men and women do 
not fill the Churches ; yet these sayings of Paul are 
thrown at all women, and are a yoke of great unjust- 
ness. 

Now, Paul says, '' I suffer not a woman to teach." 
We have shown you, in our chapter on the women 
of the Bible, that Christ gave to men by women some 
of Yii^xviO^X, precious teachings, *' I know that Messiah 
cometh, and that he will tell us all things." Christ's 
answer to the woman was, ^' I that speak unto thee 
am He," also to the woman at the sepulchre, " Go, 
and tell my disciples (men) that I am risen, and will 
meet them." 

Paul also writes about widows, ** The younger 
widows will marry, they learn to be idle, wandering 
about from house to house, tattlers also, busybodies, 
speaking things which they ought not : some are 
already turned aside after Satan, having damnation, 
because they have cast off their first faith." 

Now, it is to save all women from living such lives 
as this, that in these days we are giving the young 
women college educations^ so that they, also, can 



REFLECTIONS. 127 

have professions and honorable occupations ; and 
a State ^ governed by women, — above all, unmarried 
women, — would truly save them from having dam- 
nation and turning aside after Satan. 

The word " Satan " we have tried to show you in 
our chapter on the Origin of Sin, means our flesh and 
blood bodies. What Paul meant by the word we do 
not know, but he plainly gives his reason for say- 
ing that, *^ woman should be silent and in all subjec- 
tion /' and here it is : " For Adam was first formed, 
then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the 
woman being deceiv^ed, was in the transgression." 
These are decidedly not inspired words, for we read 
in our Bible, Eve gave the fruit to Adam, and he did 
eat. Adam, therefore, was in the transgression also. 

Paul says women will be saved by child-bearing. 
Does he mean that all unmarried women will be 
lost, because they are not mothers ? We see much 
more in Paul's own words which we think were in- 
spired ; for the child born to save us was Christ, 
and that is the saving child-bearing. 

We have tried to show you what the story of 
Adam and Eve means to our mind. Paul believed 
the story aux piedde la lettre, and takes pride in the 
fact that Adam was first formed, then Eve. In these 
days of belief in evolution it is the other way. If 



128 KEFLECTIONS. 

Eve evolved from Adam, she was higher than man 
in the plane. 

Now, we hope that we shall not be very much cen- 
sured for what we have written about St. Paul ; he 
was not an eye-witness to the life of Christ. We pre- 
fer, as we have said before, to study the words of 
Christ as given by his disciples ; they give them with 
very few comments, and it is for us to study their 
meanings within our own minds. Paul was a con- 
vert, so are we. We know that he was a learned man 
and a great scholar for his day. The story of his 
conversion may be true to the letter, and it may be 
figurative. It certainly can be taken figuratively, — 
the blindness of his mind ; the sudden light come 
to his understanding ; the three days of reasoning 
thought. However, we do not say that this is so. 
Paul was a convert to belief in Christ, and sincere 
as his Epistles show. 

Paul entered every house in Jerusalem, and haling 
men and women committed them to prison, and went 
to Damascus with letters to the synagogues, to bind 
all who believed in Christ, whether they were men 
or WOMEN. Why was Paul so bitter against women ? 
These Christian woman must have had great power 
in teaching o\h^X'^ to believe in Christ, otherwise they 
would not have been cast into prison. Why does the 
Qhurch, whigh calls itself the Church of Christ, 



REFLECTIONS. 129 

believe Paul rather than Christ, and throw a heavy 
yoke upon its women, and without its women in these 
days, where and what would the Church be ? Had 
not Xh^ yoke made by Paul been placed on women, 
the Church of Christ would have spread and grown 
over all the land. 

It would be saying very little for Christianity if 
the women of these days were no more advanced 
than the women of Paul's time. In this same 
Church a woman had given the organ, another had 
given the Rectory and Sunday School. It is Paul 
who tells us to take the whole armor of God, the 
breast-plate, the shield, the darts, the helmet, the 
sword. All this is figurative. The story of his con- 
version may be the same. 

And now, let us speak for ourseK. We believe all 
things possible to God. We believe we cannot know 
God but through the life and teachings of Christ. No 
one who has ever lived on this earth do we wish to 
see more than Christ. If we are with him hereafter, 
we know it will be heaven. 

A BELIEF IN HELL. 

** They say the orthodox doctrine of hell is a tradi- 
tional abstraction and refuse to regard it as an 
evangel. That it is intellectually inconceivable and 
morally dangerous. That it is alike incredible to 
the mind and intolerable to the heart. They 
say it is the outcome of human cruelty and revenge 
and wrong, and not of divine mercy, charity and 



130 REFI.KCTTONS. 

justice. That it is one of the results of the evil influ- 
ence of priestly ambition and hierarchic greed upon 
the sad docility of ignorance and superstition. That 
it is of the milk of human kindness turned sour. 
That it is wholly inconsistent with the gentle and 
tolerant character of Christianity's founder, with 
the pitying love of that great arbiter who said to the 
adulteress, '^ Neither do I condemn thee; go and sin 
no more." That it debases the character of man 
and is a blasphemous representation of that of God. 
That not even a Nero or a Phalaris could look with 
complacency upon millions in eternal anguish on ac- 
count of some ancestral crime or some metaphysi- 
cal mistake. That the sweet love of Him whose ten- 
der mercies are over all his works is not to be discov- 
ered in burning coals. That if it be true that God 
is a father, nay, the best of fathers, hell is a moral 
impossibility. That it makes macn callous or drives 
them mad. That it paralyzes the best, the emo- 
tional part of humanity. That it destroys the pos- 
sibility of happincvss for those in heaven and for those 
on earth." — The Nineteenth Century. 

Come, my soul, and you and I find out for our- 
selves, what we think is right or wrong in the above. 

Hell does not mean the same thing in everyone's 
mind. *' He descended into hell, " says the Apostles* 
Creed, meaning the place of departed spirits. 

Hell — Dante's Inferno — is a place wholly invented 
and conceived in the mind of man. Dante's time, 
and those who in Dante's time taught him and oth- 
ers to invent the greatest cruelties to inflict upon 
their enemies, calling all those their enemies who 
dared to think on any subject independently of the 



KEFLECTIONS. 131 

world's thoughts in those days. Could any savage 
race think out greater cruelties and tortures than we 
find in Dante's Inferno ? Did they not tremble to 
say that these things are of God, when they so plain- 
ly bear the mark of Satan (Sin) within their own 
hearts, conceived there. 

Now, my soul, Is there any punishment for sin ? 
We look round in the world and see that sin sooner 
or later brings punishment here, therefore we think 
it brings punishment hereafter. If we read the 
words of Jesus, and if the translation gives us the 
true English meaning, then He has told us that 
there is a future punishment. The natural result of 
sin we do not know ; we can only surmise what the 
punishment is or will be. We have thought it may 
be the full realization — to see, to feel, the full extent 
and lasting effects of the evil we have caused in the 
world for others, either to their souls or bodies, and 
that 7iot as we see it, but as God sees it. 

And now, my soul, let me ask you, why, when 
these words are ever quoted, " Neither do I condemn 
thee, go and sin no more/* that never but half of 
w^hat Jesus then said is quoted ? and why is it always 
the adultress, the woman, whose example is brought 
up, and not the many adulterers, the many ??ien to 
whom Jesus addressed himself ? The woman was 
simply a means used by these Scribes and Pharisees 



132 RICFLECTIONS. 

to tempt Jesus into saying something by which they 
might accuse him. And this is the answer Jesus 
gives them :^'' He that is without sin among you, let 
him first cast a stone at her/' We are told that 
every man present, from the eldest to the last, left 
without casting a stone at her. We are told that 
they were "convicted by their own consciences." 
This lesson, given by Jesus, is given to the men; and 
we understand what he says to the women to mean 
this : that she was not wholly to bear the blame and 
punishment of the sin ; every man present was as sin- 
ful as she, — and they knew it was so. And this is one 
of those occasions when Jesus so clearly proves His 
Divine nature. He at once saw and knew the secret 
lives of each man present, — their reason for bring- 
ing this woman into the crowded temple, where 
Jesus was teaching the people, and His telling them 
if they had /2^/ ^sinned to cast a stone at her, was 
spoken so that all could hear. But, at the same time, 
Jesus had the power over their consciences. He made 
them think and he made them feel, that He k?tew 
their secret lives. This was so, otherwise they would 
not have left, from the eldest to the last. It seems 
strange that they did not realize that He was the 
Son of God. 

Now, my soul, why is the woman, because a 
woman, spoken of in this account, and never these 



REFLECTIONS. 133 

men. It was the men who were convicted. The 
woman speaks not a word in her own defense, and 
Jesus tells her to go and sin no more. 

THE FAILURE TO MARRY. 

" The failure of young men to marry has com- 
pelled hundreds of thousands of young women to 
earn an independent living. All honor to the girls 
who work ; but the Divine plan was that men should 
be the bread-earners and that women should be the 
center of homes. Whenever such a fundamental 
law of society as this is violated retribution is inevi- 
table. There are to-day upward of 2,000,000 women 
in the United States who make a living by profes- 
sional and personal services, such as the practice of 
law and medicine, the teaching of music and art 
work, clerical service of one sort or another in gov- 
ernment and other offices, quite apart from the army 
of young women who serve in stores and toil at 
mechanical labor. No one who can look back over 
a generation of time has failed to observe the extent 
to which women have become independent bread- 
earners within comparatively recent years, and par- 
ticularly in those avenues which education and re- 
fined habits of life have opened up. It is, in fact, a 
grave social problem where this thing will end. 

** It would seem that this, among other causes, is 
accomplishing the purpose which Malthus aimed to 
teach ; for the inexorable conclusions of the statis- 
tician show that the American and Canadian family 
is steadily growing smaller. If the average number 
per family had been as great in 1890 as in i860, 
there would have been 6,000,000 people in the 
United States and 430,000 in Canada above what the 
recent censuses revealed. This is a fact of far-reach- 
ing importance, and applies its force in other direc- 
tions than the subject of this article. 



134 ilEFLECTtOKg. 

" Is there a remedy ? Certainly there is none 
which can be easily and readily applied. Two hun- 
dred years ago, guided largely by the Jesuits, the 
zealous King Louis of France, made stern laws for 
the government of this young colony in respect to 
marriage. He decreed that every father having a 
son eighteen years of age, or a daughter of fifteen, 
should be held accountable to the state if they were 
not married." — John Lambert Payne, in Ladies' Home 
Journal. 

PROGRESSIVE TAX ON BACHELORS. 

*^ The bill for staying the depopulation of France 
which M. Le Roy is preparing to lay before the 
Chamber, is by no means a laughing matter, as the 
French bachelor of the future may discover. For 
among its provisions is a proposal to put a progres- 
sive tax upon bachelors, while, on the other hand, 
creating a sliding scale of taxation, to be reduced in 
proportion to the number of children in a family. 

M. Le Roy proposes to follow English law in 
reducing the legal age at which a man becomes his 
own master to twenty-one, and in giving a woman 
the right of compelling the father of her illegitimate 
child to recognize and provide for his offspring. It 
was none too soon that this last provision became 
French law as well as English law, but M. Le Roy 
goes a long step further when he proposes to render 
a husband committing adultery liable to imprison- 
ment. We confess we should not have thought 
France to be the most favorable country for that 
experiment.*' — Pall Mall Gazette. 

We would say one word about this Divine plan, by 
Mr. John Lambert Payne. First, what proof can he 
give that it is God's command that men should earn 
the bread and women take care of a home for a 



man's comfort ? We are an old student of the Bible 
and we see no such command. We see this, a woman 
whose value is far above rubies, and when we look to 
see why she is called so, here is what we find: *' She 
worketh willingly with her hands ; she buyeth a field, 
she planteth a vineyard ; she perceiveth that mer- 
chandise is good ; she maketh fine linen and selleth 
it; she openeth her mouth yN\Ai wisdom.'' And we 
also see this : ^' Give her of the fruit of her hands and 
let her own works praise her in the gates." 

There is no danger that children will not be born 
into this world. When we speak of things as being 
Divine^ it is best to speak the truth, even if the 
truth is hard to speak ; so, if the illegitimate children 
were kept alive, and educated by //^^/Vparents equal 
to the parents' education, the world would be as 
crowded as some persons wish it to be, but also a 
little better off, if these children were educated, than 
it is now. 

Are the Eastern overcrowded countries the most 
prosperous ? 

France wishes many children born, as she must 
have a standing army, so that they swell the army 
and make food for the cannon ; that is all she cares 
about it. Undoubtedly she has lost in not caring for 
those children to keep them alive. Do you suppose 
that there is one man in France who is not the father 



lo6 iilEPLECTIOisrS. 

of one or more children, or who was not so, for the 
children may all be dead. 

Are women to be nothing but tnothers of children 
for all men ? or, if they refuse to be so, imless law- 
fully married, are they to starve ? The Divine has 
taken compassion on the long-suffering virtuous 
women, and opened a way for them to make a living 
equal to man's. 



BOOK V. 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 

ri37l 



A sacred burden is the life ye bear ; 
Look on it, lift it, bear it solemnly ; 
Stand up, and walk beneath it steadfastly ; 
Fail not for sorrow, falter not for sin : — 
But onward, upward, till the goal ye win. 
God guard ye, and God guide ye on your way, 
Young pilgrim warriors who set forth to-day." 

[138] 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 



There is no religion on this earth more easy to 
comprehend than the Christian religion, and none 
more difficult to practice. What is more difficult than 
to conquer self ? The greatest conquerors of the 
ages, if they ruled not their own spirits, lacked the 
noblest courage to which the human soul can attain. 
'*He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that tak- 
eth a city." 

Ask the oldest living Christian whom you know if 
she has indeed conquered self. Her intimate friends 
those most closely associated with her in her daily 
life, may feel sure that hers is a spirit under the per- 
fect control of religious principles, so truly does she 
exemplify the teachings and spirit of the Divine Mas- 
ter. Ask her : and in the clear light which shines 
in her soul, bringing oat in her thought ideals far 
beyond the conception of most minds, she will see 
some lack, some failure, unknown to those about 
her. Some sudden trial to temper or feeling comes 
up, and she is hurt — grieved, if not angry. Self is 
there, and its demands are felt. 

[139] 



140 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 

How was it with the Master ? Did He weep for 
Himself ? No; He wept for the sufferings of others. 
He wept over Jerusalem. He wept for those who 
would not receive Him, and who had no heart to 
weep for themselves in their ignorance and perver- 
sity. The hurt in his soul was for the sins of the 
world. Who can attain to this standard ? Who can, 
like Him, so forget self as to feel most of all 
the hurt of others in her soul ? There are some 
who come very near to this standard of Jesus, but 
their number is small; and with most persons, even 
though they be professing Christians, self stands 
first and clamors for its rights. 

The struggle to conquer self is lifelong. The 
Christian religion always puts others first, self sec- 
ond. Who is able to do this in her inmost heart, in 
her interior life, which is visible only to the eye of 
the Infinite ? Who is able to say to herself, " Let 
them increase ; I will decrease V* Who is willing 
and ready to help others at a certain loss to herself ? 
We must ask ourselves, as Christ asked once, *^Are 
we able ?'* No earthly reward will be ours ; no mir- 
acle will turn away from us the evil which will 
come to us in giving such good to others. But the 
evil, or the loss, is only such in seeming. To hu- 
man vision, clouded by present earthly conditions, 
it is evil, or it is loss. But seen from the higher lev- 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGIOJST. 141 

els of spiritual life, from a heavenly standpoint, the 
evil is good, veiled only from mortal sense ; it is 
gain, and not loss ; it is life, and not death. It is but 
giving up the shadow, that the real may be ours. 

''Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink 
of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am 
baptized with ?" This was the searching question 
addressed to James and John and their mother by 
the Divine Teacher, when asked by her that they 
might sit, the one on His right hand, and the other 
on the left, in His kingdom. But first He said : *'Ye 
know not what ye ask." The cup of which He was 
to drink was great sorrow and death; the baptism 
that He was baptized with was the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit of God. 

To his question they answered, "We are able." 
Their idea of his kingdom was that of an earthly 
kingdom. They believed He would establish Him- 
self as an earthly king, and they asked for earthly 
honor, that they might be placed above others. 
They did not understand Jesus nor his mission. 
The mother, it is true, asked this for her sons, not 
for herself personally. But they were her sons ; self, 
therefore, prompted her wish ; the two sons asked 
for self alone. 

Jesus tells them that they will indeed drink of 
sorrow and death, and be baptized with the Holy 



142 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 

Spirit. But they do not, and cannot understand 
Him. He tells them that what they ask for is not 
His to give ; ** but it shall be given to them for 
whom it is prepared of my Father." 

Then Jesus tells them what his religion is : '' Who- 
soever will be great among you, let him be your 
minister ; and whosoever will be chief among you, 
let him be your servant : even as the Son of man 
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and 
to give his life a ransom for many." 

Jesus here speaks of Himself in his human nature. 
He is the son of mankind, the vSon of Mary ; his 
divine nature He received from God. 

In the above He gives a summary of the Christian 
religion. As a human being He came to minister ; 
to give, not to receive ; to give even his earthly life ; 
to die in his human nature ; and, by so doing, He 
was, and is, a ransom for those who accept Him 
and follow Him. 

But even yet his disciples did not understand Him. 
They rebuked the blind men who cried out to Jesus 
as he passed : *' Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou 
Son of David ! '* What a lesson did the Divine 
Master teach his disciples then. The blind men 
asked that their eyes might be opened, and He 
gave them their sight, thus carrying out, as He 



THE CHKISTIAN RELIGION. 143 

ever did, in deeds of mercy, the holy meaning of 
his words. 

He gave but did not receive. How far below his 
standard is that of the world, — even of those who 
profess to follow Him. Where do we find a love so 
perfect as His, a love in which self is so entirely laid 
aside ; a love so broad as to take into its tender 
ministry every created thing ? We look in vain for 
it. We inherit, on the animal side of our nature, 
the instinct of self preservation, and we find it 
almost impossible to overcome this. Christ possessed 
full power to protect Himself from all harm,^but He 
did not use that power. He came in the flesh and 
lived a life on earth that He might be an example 
for all, that He might light the way through a 
world of darkness, so that mankind, till then so 
feebly groping through the shadows, might find 
the way to God. He came to free us from the 
bondage of self, and to bring us into the true liberty 
of the sons of God. Why do we find it so hard to 
follow Him closely ? Because we are bound to self 
and sin. Only by receiving Christ's spirit in our 
souls and becoming like Him in meekness and low- 
liness of heart, in purity of life, and self-sacrificing 
ministry to others, can we break away from this 
bondage, and rejoice in the freedom of his truth. 
Only thus can we live as He lived, and give as He 



14:i THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 

gave. Only thus can we grow into that oneness with 
Jesus and the Father, which reveals the beauty and 
harmony of living, and which alone can hold us fast 
in that '' peace which passeth understanding." The 
poet felt the truth of this when he penned the follow- 
ing lines : 

THE STATUE IN CLAY. 

*' Make me a statue," said the King, 
*' Of marble, white as snow : 
It must be pure enough to stand 
Before my throne, at my right hand ; 
The niche is waiting — go." 

The sculptor heard the King's command. 

And went upon his way : 
He had no marble, but he went 
With wilHng hands and high intent, 

To mould his thoughts in clay. 

Day after day he wrought the clay. 

But knew not what he wrought ; 
He sought the help of heart and brain, 
But could not make the riddle plain, 
It lay beyond his thought. 

To-day the statue seemed to grow, 

To-morrow it stood still. 
The third day all was well again : 
Thus, year by year, in joy and pain. 

He wrought his Master's will. 



THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. ^ 14:5 

At last his lifelong work was done — 

It v/as a happy day : 
He took his statue to the King. 
But trembled like a guilty thing, 

Because it was but clay, 

" Where is my statue ? " asked the King; 

** Here, Lord, " the sculptor said. 
" But I commanded marble :" *' True ; 
But lacking that what could I do. 

But mould in clay instead ?" 

" Thou shalt not unrewarded go. 

Since thou hast done thy best 

Thy statue shall acceptance win ; 

It shall be as it should have been. 
For I will do the rest." 

He touched the statue, and it changed — 

The clay falls off, and lo ! 
A marble shape before him stands. 
The perfect work of heavenly hands, 

An angel, pure as snow ! 



BOOK VI. 



JESUS CHRIST 

fi47] 



JESUS CHRIST. 



Jesus the Christ, human and divine, stands out in 
history the one perfect character, the example for 
all mankind, showing the possibilities of human 
nature, when linked with the Divine. " Be ye 
therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
Heaven is perfect." This is his command to us. 
We can be perfect within our mortal limitations, if 
w^e will strive for perfection, take Jesus for our 
guide and our example, follow Him closely, learn of 
Him, and become like Him. Christ, the only- 
begotten Son of the Father, came and dwelt in the 
flesh, that we might, through Him, by becoming 
like Him, receive ** the Spirit of adoption, whereby 
we cry, Abba, Father," and are made '* joint heirs 
with Christ." 

If we give up, or lose, the influence of Christ, the 
reality of Christianity, what will be left to us ? We 
must then go back to the God of the Jews. 

** An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth " ; fierce 
battles, where men, women and children were to be 

[149] 



150 JESUS cHRis-r. 

put to death ; vengeance on all who offend ; cruel 
deaths. It is only by Christ that we know of the 
God of great mercy ^ of all that is gentle, loving and 
kind, of all hope and bliss for us hereafter ; it is 
only through Him that peace can be ours, even on 
this earth, — this earth, which the Bible so distinctly 
tells us is Satan's. Satan himself says that all the 
power and glory of this world are his ; and he says 
this to Christ, who does not say that it is not so. 
On the contrary, Christ says, " I am not of this 
world." (Johnviii. 23.) He says, '' Ye are from be- 
neath ; I am from above.'* Christ's human nature 
had nothing of man's human nature in it. He was 
born of a pure vh*gin, thus possessing not what he 
would have inherited from a human father. The pure 
gentle nature of the woman alone gave the human 
nature in the body of flesh and blood in which 
Christ dwelt when on this earth. Read in the New 
Testament for yourself the story of the birth of 
Christ. 

Therefore, in the feast of the Passover, which 
Christ kept with his disciples. He says the bread 
and wine are his bod}^, which He gives for them 
and for us. The human body is kept alive by bread 
and wine, is made of bread and wine. In other 
words, food and drink make the human body. It 
was this human body which Christ gave for us in 



Jesus chrIst. 151 

his death on the cross, and the memory of which we 
keep in our minds and hearts by the Communion 
in our churches. 

We must seek to understand what Christ meant. 
Eating his flesh and drinkmg his blood is living in 
our human bodies, as he lived in His ; ruling our 
bodies as he ruled His body : for we must not forget 
that Christ was tempted as we are, and that He 
conquered in the flesh. Let whoever reads this 
have her Testament near her, and refer to it, if she 
doubts these words. Christ came to this earth to 
live in a body like ours, to show us the only way back 
to Heaven, the only path to purity and bliss. Our 
obedience in receiving the Communion of Christ is 
blessed to us according as we receive it. What his 
human body lived on, we live on — bread and wine, 
or food and drink ; food for the body which it not 
food for the mind or soul. " Man shall not live by 
bread alone, but by every word of God." Here, 
then, is the true bread of the true life. This bread 
Christ gave us, and the life is life eternal. In those 
days they did not understand the spiritual life ; the 
natural life was all that they understood, so that 
they could not receive Christ's spiritual teachings 
unless he gave them an earthly type. 

Christ knew mankind, and He kept the Passover 
with them, because mankind forgets unless con- 



152 jESIJg CHRIST. 

stantly reminded. One generation must remind the 
next generation, that Christ be not forgotten until 
his coming again. Therefore, as the Passover was 
not forgotten, we must^ by the Communion of 
Christ, remember that God has opened the way back 
to Heaven through Christ ; that is, by his life here, 
which we must follow ; his death, which we must 
believe ; and his resurrection, which he has promised 
to us. 

Christ's body *' saw no corruption ;" it was too 
holy to be given to this earth as our bodies are 
given. We know that "all things are possible to 
God," and it makes little difference to us whether 
the earthly body rises to life again after death or 
not. Of one thing we may be certain: that, at the 
death of the human body, the spirit lives. At the 
moment of the death of the body — which, when 
buried is sown a corruptible body, — the soul is 
raised from this earth a spiritual body. Firm, calm, 
positive, is the assurance which comes from within, 
which comes from experience, which yet cannot be 
put into earthly speech, that this is so. And may 
it not be that, at the death of the body of clay, we 
leave behind much of the evil, resulting from the 
life in that body ? Not that we are fit for Heaven 
without more progress in holiness, but that the evils 
which existed in the body, and were faithfully 



JESUS CHRIST. 153 

fougfht by the spirit, die with the body of clay, so 
that our spirits at death are freed from those sins 
which tormented us here. The sinful body is left 
behind, and from it the soul rises clothed with a 
spiritual body; but this can only be to those who are 
Christ's, to those who strive to follow Him. If the 
soul loves and seeks after evil, then evil and sin 
must follow it into the world to come. That every 
soul continues to live after death must be a fact, 
even though it be only a spark, only a stunted soul 
— for what is of God cannot die. When the de- 
scendants of Satan sought after God, they received 
this soul by the breath of God. The breath leaves 
the body of clay at the moment of death. This 
breath is the passing of the soul. 

The knowledge that the soul lives after the death 
of the body comes from interior perception, and 
cannot be passed from one mind to another. Each 
soul must gain this knowledge from its own experi- 
ence. I — my Soul — struggle with my body of clay. 
We are enemies one of the other — my carnal, animal 
body, a child of Satan, with all the sins inherited 
from Satan, and my soul, as it grows to know God 
by Christ. The battle becomes more fierce between 
them; it will never end until the last day of my 
body's life, when my soul will be free forever. 

We have but one way to return to Heaven, and 



154 Jesus OHHi^f. 

that way is Christ's way. All who wish to know 
that way can find it in the Testament of Christ. He 
has told lis to ask, in his name, for the kuowledge 
of these things, and He has told us that we shall 
receive that knowledge. 

*' Thou art not far from the kingdom of God," 
said Christ to the scribe who had questioned Him 
concerning the first commandment of all. To his 
question the Heavenly Teacher had replied : *' The 
first is, Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God, the Lord 
is one; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind, and with all thy strength. The second is 
this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 
There is no commandment greater than these. 
And the scribe said unto Him : *'Of a truth, Master, 
thou hast well said that He is one; and there is 
none other but He ; and to love Him with all the 
heart, and with all the understanding, and with all 
the strength, and to love his neighbor as himself, is 
much more than all whole burnt offerings and 
sacrifices." And when Jesus saw that He an- 
swered discreetly, He said unto him, *' Thou art 
not far from the kingdom of God.'* 

** There is one God." Christ here quotes from 
the Old Testament, thus sealing its truth. We have 
ONE GOD, and by the Trinity we mean one God ; for 



JESUS CHRIST. 165 

in Christ we have God's spoken Word, and it is the 
only way that we could hear God's Word. The Spirit, 
God in Christ, which returned to the Father at the 
death of the earthly body of Christ on this earth, is 
God. The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God in our 
souls, sent after the death of Christ to dwell in us, 
and this is our soul, mind, conscience, our inward 
self^ — God in us. This Spirit is from God. There- 
fore God is one, as the sun in the sky is one. The 
body of the sun, into which no human eye can look, 
unless guarded by a shade of some sort ; the heat 
of the sun, which we feel, but cannot understand ; 
and the light of the sun, which we see, and cannot 
understand ; these are three things and they are 
one. We cannot separate them one from another, 
nor can we understand them, how they are made, or 
how they all three are one. So it seems that God 
Christ and the Holy Ghost, are three in a certain 
sense, and yet one. We are sometimes said to have 
three Gods by those who do not understand the 
doctrine, but this is false. 

The kingdom of God we know is within us, if we 
love God ; and we are to love him with all the heart 
and strength and mind. No one else, and nothing 
else, is to be loved more than God. The word love 
should be used only to express our feelings towards 
God. Affection or liking is strong enough for 



156 jEStTS CHRtgf. 

earthly objects. We are to love God with our soul 
The soul only can love God, as it came from God. 
And we are to love Him with our mind and with 
strengtti, — the scribe said, " with all the imderstand- 
ing." This understanding God, which is worth more 
than offerings, is what we all should strive to attain. 
If we understand Yim\^ and understand Him in Christ, 
we cannot but love Him with mind, soul, and 
strength. Having attained this, we shall find our- 
selves "' not far from the kingdom of God.'* Search 
the Bible, and try to understand God in Christ. 

The word love for one's neighbor must not be taken 
for the same thing as love for God. We are to regard 
our neighbor, think of our neighbor, as of ourselves. 
We do not love ourselves as we love God. Those 
who know themselves could never do this. The 
word, therefore, is translated wrong. It must mean, 
do for thy neighbor, think of thy neighbor, as for 
thyself, — a hard enough thing for one truly to do. 

How can we find out God? '* Canst thou by 
searching find out God ? (Job ix. 7.) Many think 
that they find God in nature; but nature teaches us 
that the end of all that is on this earth is death. 
From the lowest herb to the highest tree, from the 
smallest insect to the strongest animal, all decay and 
die and vanish away. 

Is death, then, your God ? Some tell us that they 



JESUS CHRIST. 157 

find God in the heavens. True, the sun, the moon, 
the stars, all declare Him, for they are the work of 
His hands, but do you find God there ? The savage 
finds his god in the vSun and moon and stars. 

Where, then, can we find God? Only in His 
spoken Word^ — the message that God Himself sent 
to this world by the only way that we could receive 
it, by the only way that we were able to bear it. For 
no one can see God and live. 

The Word, therefore, was God. God was not the 
body of flesh and blood in which Christ dwelt when 
on this earth ; He very plainly says so Himself. 
*' Why callest thou Me good ? None is good, save 
one, even God." The young man who called Christ 
^* Good Master " was addressing Christ as a human 
being, a man like himself. He was not addressing 
the Word which was in Christ, and the Word was 
God. Christ tells us to believe the works which He 
did. *' The works which I do in my Father's name, 
they bear witness of Me. Though ye believe not 
Me, believe the works ; that ye may know, and be- 
lieve, that the Father is in Me, and I in Him." 

In no place do we find that Christ told His follow- 
ers that they were to worship Him ; He told them to 
worship God. Up to His time there had been no one 
in whose name they could ask of God ; but He told 
them that after the (Je^ath pf His earthly body they 



158 JESirS CHRIST. 

were to ask in His name, because the Word, God's 
Holy Spirit, dwelt in Christ. 

"Verily, I say unto you, All their sins shall be 
forgiven unto the sons of men, and their blasphem- 
ies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme : but who- 
soever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath 
never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin : 
because they said. He hath an unclean Spirit." The 
Word in Christ was God — the Holy Spirit of God 
which cannot die. The earthly body of Christ died, 
but having held the Holy Spirit of God, it could not 
mix with this earth of sin, and God took it and gave 
it the life in which the apostles saw Christ again 
after His death. 

If any one could say that God was Satan, how 
could that soul ever enter Heaven, from which Satan 
fell ? Eternal damnation is never to be with God in 
Heaven. As for the punishment, we are our own 
punishment, both here and hereafter. 

The punishment to which the Scriptures refer is, 
doubtless, the full realization of our sins, and all the 
loss and suffering they have brought upon ourselves 
and others. We shall see and feel the full extent 
and lasting effects of the evil we have caused in the 
world for others, either to their souls or bodies, and 
we vshall see it as God sees it. 

How did Jesus regard earthly things, as concern- 



JESUS CHRIST. 159 

ing Himself, when on this earth? He came not to 
enjoy the pleasures, or even the comforts of this 
earthly life. He put them all aside of His own free 
choice; for His mission here was one of privation 
and suffering that the world might be sav^ed from 
its ignorance and sin, that through Him mankind 
might be truly blessed. 

'^ Jesus answered : My kingdom is not of this 
world. If my kingdom were of this world then 
would my servants fight." 

'' Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the 
inheritance with me. And Jesus said: Man, who 
made me a judge or divider over you ?" 

*' Martha said, Lord, dost thou not care that my 
sister did leave me to serve alone ? Jesus answered: 
Thou art anxious and troubled about many things. 
Mary hath chosen the good part." 

*' The Son of man hath not where to lay his head — 
no earthly home." 

*'When Jesus perceived that they would make 
Him a king by force, He departed into a mountain 
alone." 

" Concerning the tribute money, Jesus said : * Why 
tempt ye me ? Render unto Caesar the things that 
are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's.' " 

It has been said that *'Jesus the Christ did not 
rnake us^ of or deal with problems of civil govern- 



160 JKSUS CHRIST. 

ment or material progress." Yet it was He who 
said, *'Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's,'* 
as well as '^ Render to God the things which are 
God's." He also bade His disciples to pay the tax 
(Matt. xvii. 25). He also said, " The Scribes and 
the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat : all things there- 
fore whatsoever they bid you, these do and observe." 
At the same time He condemned these lawgivers 
and lawmakers individually, saying, '^ But do not ye 
after their works, for they say and do not " (Matt, 
xxiii. 1-3). 

It has also been said that *^ Christ formulated no 
system of theology, constructed no creed, origin- 
ated no plan for the preservation and dispensation 
of His own teachings : that He was not a scientist, 
philosopher or an inventor ; that He sanctioned no 
particular system of education ; that He expressed 
no opinion upon the burning questions of the day." 

Theology. — *'Jesus said, Ye do err, not knowing 
the Scriptures." "Did ye never read in the Scrip- 
tures, The stone which the builders rejected, the 
same was made the head of the corner ; this is the 
Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" 

'' Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye 
have eternal life, and they are they which testify of 
me; and ye will not come to me that ye might h^ve 
life " (John v. 39). 



JESUS CHRIST. 161 

"And the Scripture cannot be broken " (John x. 35). 

Creed. — Jesus said, ^' For God so loved the world, 
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever 
belie veth in Him should not perish, but have eter- 
nal life " (John iii. 16). 

Did Christ indeed make no plan for the dispen- 
sation of His own teachings ? Let us see. Jesus 
sent forth His disciples by two and two, to preach 
the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. ^* When 
they persecute you in this city, flee into the next." 
"What I tell you in the darkness, speak ye in the 
light : and what ye hear in the ear, proclaim upon 
the housetops." And the disciples departed and 
went throughout the villages, preaching the gospel. 

Read Christ's last words to his disciples, when He 
met them by appointment in the mountain, before 
his ascension. *' All authority hath been given unto 
me in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and 
make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them 
into the name of the Father, and of the son, and of 
the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I commanded you : and lo, I am with 
you alway even unto the end of the world." 

It has been said that Jesus was not a scientist, 
philosopher or inventor. But science, philosophy, 
invention, all belong to God ; and it was only after 
men began to seek after God, that they began to 



162 JESUS CHRIST. 

think in any of these lines. Christ's teachings were 
drawn largely from nature. The lilies of the field, 
the vine and the grapes, the unfruitful fig-tree, the 
harvest-time, sowing and reaping, the falling 
sparrow, the tokens of the sky at morning and at 
eve, the various phenomena of nature on earth and 
in the heavens ; all these were made object lessons 
to convey his truth to mankind. Nor did he fail to 
draw subjects of thought from the various avoca- 
tions of life. Mercantile pursuits, the various trades 
and the learned professions, were all represented in 
his discourses, and each yielded some point with 
which to fasten his teachings in the mind and 
understanding of his hearers. 

Education. — Jesus said, *' Suffer the little children 
to come unto me, and forbid them not.'* Christ 
came to teach. He continually taught byword and 
example, and constantly made known to his hearers 
the importance of searching the Scriptures. 

Christ in none of his teachings favors ignorance. 
The questions he puts to his hearers are all designed 
to make them think for themselves. He tells them 
that they will have more light, increased power to 
think within themselves, when He leaves the body ; 
for the Holy vSpirit will be sent to them, and they 
will then better understand what He has told them. 
It is his will that we shall go onward in all knowl- 



JESUS CHRIST. 163 

edge, and that the light in us shall increase unto 
the perfect day. 

The Questions of the Day. — In truth, Christ con- 
tinually rebuked the prevailing selfishness, hypoc- 
risy and self-righteousness of the people around 
Him. He went to the roots of men's lives. He laid 
bare the hidden motives and mainsprings of action, 
and spoke as no man dared to speak to those in high 
places. Continually was he speaking on the ques- 
tions of those days ; and such is the breadth and 
universality of his principles, such the broad, deep 
foundation of the religion w^hich he established, that 
to-day He is the only safe and sure Guide and 
Teacher in all matters pertaining to the welfare 
and true prosperity of mankind ; and the only safe 
and true Leader for individuals and for nations. 
On every burning question of our day He speaks, 
through his teachings given almost nineteen hun- 
dred years ago, and also through the "still, small 
voice " of His Spirit, the Holy Comforter, which 
titters its cotmsel to ever}^ pure and listening soul. 
If we are linked to the Divine Spirit in purity of 
heart and life, and unselfish love to all God's 
creatures, then can we drink freely of the waters of 
Truth, which shall be no longer to our thirsting 
souls a sealed fountain, but shall be in us '' a well of 
water, springing up into eternal life," 



164 JESUS CHRIST. 

Strive, then, to understand Jesus Christ's words 
for yourself. Do not be bound to what others have 
told you ; that is only a help. Ask God to help you, 
be independent of your fellow mortals, and when 
you see clearly yourself, help others to see clearly 
also. 

We cannot see God and live. It is only through 
Christ's human nature that we can see his divine 
nature. He came to hmnan beings, not to angels. 
Neither his disciples, nor we of the present day, 
could have understood God's message to us, had He 
come only as divine. We are not divine, but 
human, very gross, and dull, and slow to under- 
stand divine things. The birth of Christ was of a 
double nature, — human through his mother, divine 
through the Holy Ghost. He was perfect man in 
all things like ourselves, and taught us, by his 
example, that mankind can live without sin ; if we 
cannot in our human strength, we can by the help 
of the Holy Spirit. The death of Christ belonged 
only to his human nature ; his body died and was 
buried, but the Divine Spirit could not permit that 
the body it had inhabited should ever see corrup- 
tion. We did not know God in his mercy, until we 
knew him through Christ. He came to us in Christ, 
to show us what it is possible for human nature to 
be. Study Jesus* character from every standpoint^ 



JESUS CHRISf. 165 

and you will find what it is possible for you to be ; 
you will learn how to attain to a higher standard 
than you have been able yet to reach ; you will learn 
to know, and to love, and to do God's will, and how 
to gain all good^ for yourself, and bestow blessings 
on those around you. Christ performed his works, 
which we call miracles, by the power of God within 
Him. " The Father abiding in me doeth his works." 
Miracles are not performed by breaking any of God's 
laws. They are done by bringing into requisition 
laws wholly unknown to us. Christ knew those laws, 
and worked by them, healing the sick, raising the 
dead, giving sight to the blind and hearing to the 
deaf. He fed the hungering multitudes, and walked 
upon the sea, and stilled the tempest — not in 
opposition to nature's laws, but in perfect harmony 
with her higher laws, of which we as yet know 
nothing. Although we are coming to understand 
many things which were unknown to our fathers, 
yet are we still but little children in the knowledge 
•of the law^s of God. Do you know//<?w, in the spring 
of the year, the sap of the tree runs up to the 
branches, and forms the leaves and blossoms ? What 
makes it run up, notwithstanding the law of gravita- 
tion ? And what makes the sap turn into a leaf or a 
flower ? You see it, so you believe it, but you cannot 
explain it What is the sap in the tree, and where 



166 JEStrS CHMST. 

does it come from ? You see the sun rise, you see 
the sun set. You are told by astronomers that it 
does nothing of the kind. They give their reasons 

for their assertions, and you believe them, although 
the sun seems to approach, cross the heavens, and 
sink from view. The earth seems to you stationary, 
yet you believe them when they tell you that it 
moves at an astonishing rate of speed. Why, then, 
doubt the miracles of Christ, which were wrought 
in accordance with laws unknown to us ? 

The double nature of Jesus was not understood 
even by His disciples till after His ascension. They 
could not understand that, in seeing Him, they had 
seen the Father. It was only after they had received 
His Holy Spirit into their hearts, and lived it in 
their lives, that they were able to see God in Christ, 
the Father manifested to the world in the Son. And 
thus it is at the present day. It is only the pure in 
heart who see God ; it is only the self-sacrificingi 
loving heart that knows Christ. 

We are continually reminded in the Scriptures of 
the double nature of Christ. Jesus himself often 
refers to it. 

*^The Son of God," ** The Son of Man."— Man- 
kind. 

The angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, " He 
shall be» called the Son of the Most High." — Divine, 



jEStJS CHMST. 167 

^*Thou shalt bring forth a son." — Human. 

** That which is to be born shall be called holy, the 
Son of God." — Divine. 

'' Spoken by the Lord through the prophets, Out 
of Egypt did I call My Son." — Divine. 

'' Wist ye not that I must be in My Father's 
house ? ** — Divine 

** He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost." — 
Divine. 

"Jesus was baptized of John." — Human. 

"This is my beloved Son." — Divine. 

The temptation in the wilderness was to His hu- 
man nature. Make these stones bread ; cast thyself 
down ; seek the glory of the world. — Human. 

" The Lamb of God."— Human. 

John bore witness to the Son of God. — Divine. 

" Nathaniel answered Him, Rabbi, thou art the 
Son of God."— Divine. 

" The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head." 
— Human. 

" The Son of Man shall be delivered up." — Hu- 
man. 

" Even so shall the Son of Man also suffer of 
them." — Human. 

" Until the Son of Man be risen from the dead." 
— Human. 



168 jEstJs Christ. 

His divine nature could not die. 

A voice from the cloud : ^^ This is Mv beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased : hear ye Him." — 
Divine. 

"' The Son of Man shall come in the glory of His 
Father." — Human and Divine. 

His human nature will return to this earth with 
the glory of His Divine nature. 

Simon Peter said, ^* Thou art the Son of the living 
God."— Divine. 

^^ That he that beholdeth the Son and believeth 
on Him, should have eternal life." — Divine. 

*^ Of a truth, thou art the Son of God."— Divine. 

" Till the Son of Man be come." — Human and Di- 
vine. 

'' Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God."— Divine. 
" Son of Man shall send forth his angels." — Human 
^nd Divine. 

" He that soweth the good seed is the Son of 
Man."— Human. 

"The Son of Man cometh in an hour ye think 
not." — Human and Divine. 

" The Son of Man came eating and drinking." — 
Human. 

*' The Son of Man came to seek and to save that 
which was lost." — Human. 



JESUS CHRIST. 169 

'^ The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God."— Divine. 

" The Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive 
sins." — Human and Divine. 

The devils cried out, ^'Thou art the Son of God." 
— Divine. 

" The Father loveth the Son."— Divine. 

" Jesus said, Dost thou believe on the Son of 
God ?"— Divine. 

'* Say ye of Him, whom the Father hath sanctified 
and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, be- 
cause I said, I am the Son of God ?" — Divine. 

'' The Son of Man must be lifted up." — Human. 

"The Son of Man goeth as it is written of Him." 
— Human. 

"Now is the Son of Man glorified." — Human and 
Divine. 

" Father, glorify thy Son." — Divine. 

" The Son of Man sitting at the right hand of pow- 
er." — Human and Divine. 



BOOK VII. 



SCIENCE. 



"When the convertibility of solar energy into any of the 
various forms was discovered: sunlight into chemical 
affinity, that into heat, heat into motion, motion into elec- 
tricity, electricity back again into sunlight, it seemed highly 
probable that every seeming kind of energy was only one 
thing manifesting itself in various apparent forms. But 
could this be demonstrated ? Could it be shown that elec- 
tricity is sunlight, and an explanation be given of the real 
difference between the various forms of manifestation ? 
That has been attempted. So far they show that light, 
radiant heat and electricity have the following properties in 
common : They move at the same rate of speed, one 
hundred and eighty thousand miles per second ; they move 
as waves or pulsations ; they, with gravitation, are under the 
same law of diffusion, the square of the distance ; they can 
be reflected — that is, arrested, and sent back over the 
course which they came. A film of mercury held in place 
on glass reflects light, a sheet of zinc reflects electricity. 

*' What is it which makes the difference ? It appears to 
be demonstrated, beyond doubt, that the difference consists 
in the differing lengths of the waves of propulsion — nothing 
more. The shortest wave-lengths — the shortest distance, 
so to speak, between the crowns of the waves — is mani- 
fested as chemical afllinity; the next longer appears as light; 
the next longer gives us heat, the longest gives us elec- 
tricity. Is it possible that things apparently so utterly 
diverse are really identical, and the differences between 
them so marvelously simple ? 

" Such discoveries, when demonstrated, give possibility to 
further progress, and this intensely sharpens the spirit of 
research. For every new truth raises scores of new Ques- 
tions." 

[172] 



SCIENCE. 



Science, rightly -understood, does not conflict 
in any way with true religion. It does, rather, 
throw often upon revealed truth a light so 
strong and clear as to bring it home to the mind 
and soul with new meaning and added power. 
Thus, we learn that solar energy is expressed in 
different forms. The light of the sun is converted 
*' into chemical affinity, that into heat, heat into mo- 
tion, motion into electricity, electricity back again 
into sunlight." **Light, radiant heat and electricity 
all move at the same rate of speed ; they move in 
waves or pulsations ; they, with gravitation, are un- 
der the same law of diffusion ; they can be reflect- 
ed.'* They seem to be but different forms or mani- 
festations of the one great, all pervading Energy 
which is the expression of God. 

Do we not see here a beautiful semblance 
between the natural and the spiritual ? 

Light is truly the type of Jesus, the Son of God, 
who was *' the Light of the world," the Redeemer 
of mankind, '' God manifest in the flesh." Radiant 

I173J 



174 SCIENCE. 

heat suggests the power of the Holy Spirit, its 
brooding, warming sanctifying work upon the 
human soul, making it reflect the warmth and 
brightness of Heaven ; electricity symbolizes the 
boundless might and infinite power, the all-pervad- 
ing purity and love and wisdom of God the Father. 

This mighty energy, in its different forms, moves 
in pulsations ; they denote life. It is subject to the 
law of diffusion ; that is, it can be given to all. It 
can be reflected ; sent back over its course. So does 
the power of God in the soul fill it with new and 
wondrous life ; so does it give of itself continually 
to all in need, only to be continually renewed ; so 
does it reflect the image of God in the soul, and 
enable it to return to its Divine Source. 

Let us seek to know more of God's laws, — and 
this knowledge is what we call Science. Let us 
approach it reverently, prayerfully, knowing that 
God is there, and that in learning of his eternal 
laws we stand upon holy ground. Thus shall we 
not go astray into foolish vagaries and wild con- 
ceits, but we shall learn humbly and meekly of the 
wondrous things hidden from the foundation of the 
world. Let us not forget that knowledge is the 
gift of God. Let us not take credit to ourselves for 
anything we may have gained of scientific knowl- 
edge, for so our minds would close in their vain 



SCIENCE. 175 

conceit, and the gates of science would be shut 
against us. Only as the soul is receptive to the 
higher truths, only as we come like h'ttle children 
to be taught, can we learn the wondrous things of 
Gud and his universe. 

Neither let us be niggardly of our treasures of 
knowledge. Let us give to others ; give freely 
give always, and the more we give, the more we 
receive. 

^'Then said He unto them, therefore every scribe 
which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is 
like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth 
forth out of his treasure things new and old." 

Does not this mean that we are to get knowledge, 
and help others to get it ? that the knowledge, at 
that time hidden from human minds, would some 
day be revealed to all ? that '" the earth should be 
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord," 
and " as the waters cover the sea," God's truth would 
yet permeate all humanity, and all hungering and 
thirsting souls should be fed ? '' For there is noth- 
ing hid, which shall not be manifested ; neither was 
anything kept secret, but that it should come 
abroad." 

This may also apply to hidden sin. Is it not true 
that sin cannot be hid — that it reveals itself? See 
how sin writes itself in the face ; how it betrays it- 



176 SCIENCE. 

self in the voice, the gait, the movements of the 
individual. It clings like an incubus to the unhappy- 
victims of intemperance, of sensualit}^, of greed, 
avarice and hyprocrisy. In the light of science and 
of a progressive spirituality, all things are made 
manifest, and things are seen more and more as they 
are^ and not as they seem. Mankind is going more 
and more to the heart of things, to the hidden 
motives and mainsprings of life and action. This 
is an age of judgment, when things are taken more 
than ever before at their true value. Therefore get 
knowledge, let the mind expand, and take in more 
and more of God's free truth, " Blessed are they that 
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall 
be filled.'* 

Christ often spoke in parables. The w^orld was 
not ready for all the truth He had to give. He 
clothed many of his truths in parables, according to 
the universal custom of the East, that mankind 
might get at the truth little by little, as they were 
able to bear it. Let us study his parables, and we 
shall find new meanings gleaming out from familiar 
passages, in which they have long been hidden. 
There is very much in Christ's teachings that the 
world has not yet discovered. The truth lies hidden 
there like the diamond in the ground. Some earn- 
est, pure soul will find it in the quest after truth, 



SCIENCE. 177 

" Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall 
find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you ? For 
every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seek- 
eth findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be 
opened." 

We have not yet been able to fathom the height 
and depth of Christ's teachings. Simple and plain 
as they are, we have not yet made them our own. 
We cannot fully recognize and realize their won- 
drous beauty and harmony. 

It was during a talk that Jesus had with His disci- 
ples that He said : *' Hereafter I will not talk much 
with you : for the prince of this world cometh, and 
hath nothing in me." 

Does the prince of this world mean the power of 
evil ? Certainly, evil found no place in Christ. 
Some think it refers to money or riches : but money 
is used for good as well as for evil. In worthy hands 
it is a means of great good to mankind. Every good 
thing is used or abused according to the heart that 
prompts to action. 

Does not ^* the prince of this world " denote self 
or selfishness ? We find no selfishness in Christ; 
we do find it permeating human nature. It is very 
hard to be wholly unselfish in this world. There 
are so many things that we must do for ourselves, 



178 SCIENCE. 

tinder the head of duty even, that necessarily there 
is danger of self weighing in the balance. 

"' Selfishness," writes C. Wilbrandt, '' is the real 
spring of creative power ; this creative power finds 
pleasure and support in the extension of needs, 
and the needs and exertion are balanced by a 
changeless law of nature, which regulates the value 
of everything according to the relation of supply 
and demand. On this mode of valuation lies the 
power of nature, which holds together all the cen- 
trifugal interests and renders them useful in the 
service of the community. Society, if deprived of 
this stimulus of selfishness, must lose the condi- 
tions of recuperation after a crisis. According to 
this, the world reaps great advantage from individ- 
ual selfishness, and from a worldly point of view 
this is true. 

Selfishness, then, is " the prince of this world,** 
and Jesus tells us that He is not of this world, and 
this world has nothing in Him, 

When Christ was speaking of His death, two or 
three days before this, and the voice came from 
Heaven, He said : ^' Now is the judgment of this 
world ; now shall the prince of this world be cast 
out." Again : '* The Comforter, when He is come, 
will reprove the world of judgment, because the 
prince of this world is judged." We cannot sue- 



SCIENCE. 179 

ceed in life, according to the standard of success 
which exists in this world, unless we are selfish. 
Selfishness is the foundation of worldly success. Is 
it then, a thing to be so much desired ? This world 
is transitory, its joys are fleeting ; its pleasures of 
sense, that seem at first so attractive, become hard, 
merciless fetters, binding the soul in a wretched 
bondage, and overwhelming it in misery which no 
words can portray. Choose, then, which shall be 
yours: success in this world, or a life here of self-ab- 
negation, which will open to the soul a higher, surer 
happiness here, and peace and joy in the world to 
come. 

If we love Christ we shall grow to be like Him, 
and selfishness will find no place in us. He loved 
others ; He thought not of self. He loved those 
even who did not love Him, who had nothing to 
give Him in return for all He gave. He loved 
even His enemies so truly that He gave His life for 
them. Can we grow to be like Him ? Let us try. 
Let us strive for it. Let us put self aside, and open 
our heart and soul, and our whole nature toward 
Him, so that He will come and abide in us and fill 
us with His Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost. 

'' In the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be 
of good cheer ; I haye overcome the worlcj/' 



BOOK VIII. 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

[i8i] 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 



SARAI, ABRAM'S WIFE. 
(The name means " Princess.") 

Sarai was a very handsome woman ; her beauty- 
got her into trouble. Abram made her say that she 
was his sister when they went to Egypt. This he 
did to save his life. He was afraid the Egyptians 
would kill him to take Sarai; but the Egyptians seem 
to have been moral men in those days, and sent 
Sarai and Abram away. Sarai was the mother of 
Isaac, and she died when 127 years old. She told 
two falsehoods, and both out of fear ; the first to 
please her husband, for fear the Egyptians would 
kill him, and the last out of fear, when she found the 
angel of God knew she had not believed in the 
power of God in regard to the birth of Isaac. 

Lot's wife was disobedient to God's command, 
and was punished with death, as she believed not 
what the angel of God told her. 

1183} 



184 WOME]^ OF TBTES OLD TESTAMENl** 

REBEKAH. 
(The name means " flattering/') 

Was a wife chosen by God , asked for in prayer ; a 
wife for Isaac. We know the Story how she was 
sought for, and how found. She was asked for a 
drink of water, and she did more than she was asked 
to do. She had courage, for she left her home for 
a long journey with a stranger as her guide. Now, 
Rebekah had faults as well as virtues, and the Bible 
does not hide them. Also, Isaac was forty years old 
when he married Rebekah. We know the story of 
Esau and Jacob, and how Rebekah deceived her 
husband and said, '* Upon me be thy curse, my son,*' 
and Esau, her son, was going to kill his brother 
Jacob, also her son ; so she had to send him away 
from her, though he was the son she loved. 

Here are Eve, Sarah, and Rebekah. We know 
Eve must have been very beautiful. We are told 
that Saria was so beautiful that her husband made 
her tell a lie because he feared he would lose his 
life, and Rebekah was so beautiful that Isaac loved 
her at first sight. 

We would have the word obey taken from the 
marriage service. Obedience must be learned by 
all ; none can command it unless they obey first, 
be it man or woman. Obedience should be enforced 



Women* o:^' I^he^ old tii:sTAMEOT. 185 

upon children, so as to testch self-command, but not 
upon the girl when she is old enough to understand 
the consequences of obedience or disobedience to 
God's laws, the laws of her country, the laws of 
health, and all other laws which personally react on 
herself for good or evil. Of course, the laws which 
make her protect others as well as herself, react on 
hef for good or evil. 

In reading the account of Adam and Eve, we find 
that Adam obeyed Eve — both disobeyed God. 
** When the woman took of the fruit, and did eat, and 
gave unto her husband, he did eat," he obeyed her. 
If for good or evil, is not in the question now. The 
same as a woman makes a sacred vow to obey her 
husband in the marriage service, be it for good or for 
evil is not in the case at all. Now, Abraham obeyed 
Sarah, and the command to do so came from God : 
" And God said unto Abraham, in all that Sarah 
hath said unto thee, harken unto her voice," and 
Sarah obeyed Abraham, and said she was his sister 
when she was his wife, and this thing displeased the 
Lord. Men, in those days, loved beautiful women 
to such an end that they would kill the husband to 
take the wife. Isaac also says his wife is his sister, 
because " the men of the place should kill me for 
Rebekah." 

Among the women we have the name of JDeborahj 



186 WOMEI^ OF TH:E old TESTAMJ5NT. 

Rebekah's nurse, her death and place of burial. 
Jacob obeyed Rebekah, his mother : " Now, there- 
fore, my son, obey my voice according to that which 
I command thee ;" and he obeyed her. 

Now, Rachel was another beautiful woman, and 
for her beauty was loved. When will men love 
women for their beauty of mind and character. We 
are told that she, Rachel, envied her sister, and stole 
her father's goods, and Leah was not loved because 
she was not beautiful. 



MIRIAM. 

(" Strong.") 
We are told that she was the elder sister of Aaron 
and Moses ; she watched over Moses, sang at the 
Red Sea, murmured against Moses and was smitten 
with leprosy. This gives us the good and the bad. 
We have the name of the mother of Moses, Joche- 
bed. We are told she was a daughter of Levi. 
" Miriam the Prophetess," Exodus xv. 20. Miriam 
sinned through pride ; but she is named as equal with 
Moses and Aaron in Micah vi. 4 : ^* For I brought 
thee up out of the house of Egypt, and redeemed 
thee out of the house of servants, and I sent before 
thee Moses, Aaron and Miriam." She has been called 
by some, ^* the grand patriotic old-maid." 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 187 

RUTH. 

(" Friendship.") 
We are told she was a Moabitess who became the 
wife of Chiblion, younger son of Elimelech and 
Naomi, and afterwards of Boaz, to whom she bare 
Obed, father of Jesse, father of David. This woman 
redeemed the Moabites, that race whose ancestors 
sinned : " Saith the Lord of hosts, surely Moab shall 
be as Sodom." Ruth would not leave her mother- 
in-law, but followed her back to her country ; and 
Ruth obeyed her mother-in-law, and her mother-in- 
law brought her a blessing, a very great one, as 
from her descended David. 



DEBORAH. 
("Bee.") 
We are told that she was a prophetess who judged 
Israel. Her name was an Egyptian vSymbol of regal 
power, and among the Greeks it was applied not 
only to the poets and those peculiarly chaste, but 
especially to the priestesses of Delphi, Cybele and 
Artemis. She was probably of Ephraim, though 
some suppose her to have belonged to Issachar, from 
the expression in Judges v. 15. The common version 
calls her '' wife of Lapidoth,'' but another render- ^ 



18S WOMEN OF THI! OLD TESTAMKNT. 

ing of the phrase is Tennyson's, ^Hhe great darne 
of Lapidoth," or one divinely illuminated, since 
''lapidotte '* is ''lightnings." The rabbis, however, 
say that she was one who tended the tabernacle 
lamps. 

Let ns hope she was an unmarried woman. De- 
borah destroyed the Canaanites ; let no one say 
women cannot fight. She was a great political rnler ; 
she was the fifth judge and ruled all Israel ; she dis- 
pensed justice and judgment and mercy to the 
Israelites, and she ruled well, for after the victory 
over her foes, '' the land had rest for forty years.'' 

Why, then, cannot woman govern a woman's state ? 
Here is a woman who was a prophetess, a general y 
2i judge, and a successful one. 

Judges v.: "The inhabitants of the villages 
ceased ; the)^ ceased in Israel until that I, Deborah, 
arose, that I arose a mother in Israel." ''Awake, 
awake, Deborah ; awake, awake, utter a song, arise." 
" And the princes of Issachar v/ere with Deborah, 
even Issachar and also Barak : he was sent on foot 
into the valley. For the divisions of Reuben there 
were great thoughts of heart." Deborah, the strong- 
minded woman. 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 189 

JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER. 

The consecrated maiden vowed to live a single 
life all her life. This was long before Christ was 
born. When so much was thought of having descend- 
ants, children to bear the name, to continue a cer- 
tain prized race, to continue a generation, also to be 
the human mother of Christ, must have been a holy 
wish in every woman's heart. 

This is the first woman we can find in the Bible 
given to the Lord. It is true she was vowed to the 
single life by her father, another and not herself ; 
but she consented, so the gift of herself was partly 
her own free act. How little could woman then 
understand what the true giving of herself to God 
meant. It is Christ who has taught us, it is Christ 
who has called us, and it is Christ who has changed 
what in the Old Testament days was considered a 
disgrace, to be an honor and a glory, if given freely, 
with no vows ; a consecrated single life, in imitation 
of the life of Christ, to the glory of God, and the 
good of mankind. It is not everyone who can so 
live. 



190 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

DELILAH. 

Judges XV. 4. The bible gives the history of the 
women, good and bad. We are to get the lesson they 
teach ; we are to search for it and judge ourselves. 
Here is a woman of those days, devoted to her 
people and her nation. She uses her charms to win 
the secret of Samson's strength. He is vanquished 
by a woman. This was considered a great disgrace, 
for in those days a woman stood very low. 

So Sisera died by the hand of a woman, Jael, the 
wife of Heber the Kenite, and she was praised for 
saving her nation. Judges v. 53. " And a certain 
woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's 
head." We are told that the men and women fled to 
a strong tower, when the city was besieged. In 
those days, when both men and women were barbar- 
ous, the women fought for their country and nation, 
as well as the men. This man made his soldier draw 
his sword and slay him, that it might not be said, " a 
woman slew him." These woman were all courage- 
ous, as much so as the men, and would have made 
good generals. 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 191 

HANNAH. 

C' Grace.") 
One of Elkanah's wives, and the mother of 
Samuel the prophet, while she also herself was a 
prophetess, as is proved by the prophecy contained 
in her hymn of thanksgiving for the birth of her 
son. It is in the highest order of prophetic poetry. 
It contains the first designation of the *' Messiah " 
under that name. 

BATHwSHEBA, 

(" Daughter of an oath.") 

Daughter of Eliam or Ammiel, wife of Uriah, and 
mother of Solomon by David. She is also called 
Bathshua. Jewish tradition has it that she composed 
and recited Proverbs xxxi. as an admonition to her 
son Solomon, on his marriage with Pharaoh's 
daughter. Proverbs xxxi. : " Who can find a virtuous 
woman, for her price is far above rubies," and the 
rest of the proverb. 

When David was old, Adonijah exalted himself, 
saying, " I will be king." But Nathan, the prophet, 
and the mighty men he called not. Therefore 
Nathan spake unto Bathsheba : " Let me give thee 
goujisel^ that thou mayest save thine own life, and 



192 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the life of Solomon. Go to King David and say : 
. . . . ^' She obeyed/* and .we are told : *' And Godok, 
the priest,took a horn of oil out of the Tabernacle, and 
anointed Solomon, and all the people said, God save 
king Solomon." *' And Adonijah came to Bathsheba 
the mother of Solomon, to get her to ask the king 
to give him Abishag the Shunamite for wife, 
thinking that Solomon would grant what his mother 
asked him, if it was good or if it was evil. So Bath- 
sheba was made a messenger by many who feared 
to speak for themselves, but who sent a woman 
who was favored, to speak for them. 

ABIGAIL. 

(" Source or cause of delight.") 
Wife of Nabal the Carmelite. She met and pacified 
David, and afterwards became his wife, and was the 
mother of Daniel or Chileab. Samuel i. 15 : '' And 
Nabal answered David's servants and said, who is 
David ? and who is the son of Jesse? Shall I take 
my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have 
killed for my shearers, and give it unto men whom 
I know not whence they be ?" But one of Nabal's 
men told Abigail that David and four hundred of 
his men were coming to fight Nabal, and "Oa^y feared 
to speak to him^ and that Nabal had railed on 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 193 

David's messengers who had come to salute him. 
^^ Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred 
loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready 
dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a 
hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes 
of figs, and laid them on asses, and said to her 
servants, go on before me, I come after you ; hut she 
told not her husband Nabal^ And she met David and 
his men, and she fell at his feet, and said, " Upon 
me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be, and let 
this handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, 
and hear the words of thine handmaid." Read for 
yourselves the words of wisdom this woman spoke 
after coming with so much courage to meet the army 
of an enemy alo7ie^ and she a woman ; and read how 
David spoke to her, and her wisdom in not speaking 
to Nabal when he was drunken : *' Wherefore she 
told him nothing, less or more, until the morning 
light," and after his death she became David's wife. 
But this woman, so full of wisdom and courage was 
very humble ; she said, " Behold, let thine hand- 
maid be a servant to wash the feet of the servants 
of my lord." 



194 WOMEK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

MICHAL, SAUL^S DAUGHTER. 

("Who is like God.") 
The younger daughter of King Saul, who became 
David's wife, saved him in his distreSwS, and mocked 
him in his triumph. When Saul went to David's 
house to kill him, Michal put an image in the bed, 
and she let David down through a window, and told 
him to save his life. " But Saul had given Michal, 
his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of 
Laish, which was of Gallim." '^And David sent 
messengers to Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, saying, de- 
liver me my wife Michal." She was taken from 
Laish, and her husband went with her, weeping 
behmd her ; and Abner said, go, return ; and he re- 
turned. The value of this woman was only that she 
was Saul's daughter, for as the ark of the Lord came 
to the city of David, Michal looked through a 
window, and saw King David dancing before the 
Lord; '* and she despised him in her heart," /^^r 
pride made her do so. '' And David returned to 
bless his household. Michal, the daughter of Saul, 
came to meet David," and in her words she tried to 
put him to shame through her pride : "Therefore, 
Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child unto the 
day of her death ;" and in those days this was the 
greatest fall her pride could have. . 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 195 

THE WIDOW OF ZAREPATH. 
(I Kings xvii. lo.) 
To this widow the Lord sent the prophet Elijah. 
'' I have commanded a widow woman there to sus- 
tain thee." And, behold, the widow woman was 
gathering sticks to make a fire to cook the last food 
she had in her house, for her child and herself, 
" that we may eat and die," nevertheless she obeyed 
Elijah and believed his promise : " The barrel of 
meal shall not fail, neither the cruse of oil, until the 
day that the Lord send rain upon the earth." A 
great famine was in the land, no rain, not even 
dew. So this widow fed the prophet for many days. 
Then we are told that after this, this woman's son 
fell sick so that there was no breath left in him, and 
we are told that Elijah prayed for the child and the 
child revived. This is the woman of whom Christ 
spoke when he preached in the synagogue at 
Nazareth : ^' But I tell you of a truth many widows 
were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven 
was shut up three years and six months, when great 
famine was throughout all the land ; but to none of 
them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of 
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow/* 



196 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, 

THE WOMAN OF SHUNEM. 

This woman, we are told, was a great woman, and 
when Elisha passed through Shunem, she gave him 
bread to eat, and as often as he passed he rested at 
her house. So she said to her husband, let us 
make a chamber for the prophet ; and the prophet 
said to her, you have taken all this care for me, 
what shall be done for you ? A son was what she 
wished. [This longing to have a son among these 
early people, as well as among the people in India, 
is without doubt from two things : The son, the 
Saviour of the World ; and the mother of this Son, 
the Generation from which Christ would come. Now 
that Christ has come and died and risen for us, this 
great wish for the honor of being the mother of a son 
has passed away. It was the Old Testament ; the New 
Testament has made all things new]. And a son is 
given to this woman. The son falls ill and dies, the 
mother goes to the prophet, and will not have any 
one but the prophet to recall the child to life ; and 
the child lived. 

This woman has been called the ^* Hospitable 
Matron/' 



WOMEN or THli: OLD ^TESTAMENT. 197 

QUEEN OF SHEBA. 

I. Kings X. I : ^' And when the queen of Sheba 
heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of 
the Lord,, she came to prove him with hard ques- 
tions." 

She came to Jerusalem with much riches, and 
communed with Solomon. Now, this woman was a 
learned woman ; she had wisdom and was so wise 
that she took the long journey to see the king of 
whom she had heard, to ask him questions ** con- 
cerning the name of the Lord," and he told her all. 
And when she had seen Solomon's wisdom there 
was no more spirit (pride) in her, and she said : 
"' It was a true report that I heard in my own land 
of thy acts and of thy wisdom. Howbeit, I believed 
not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen 
it : thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame 
which I heard. Happy are thy men, happy are 
these thy servants, which stand continually before 
thee, and that hear thy wisdom. Blessed be the 
Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee 
on the throne of Israel : because the Lord loved 
Israel forever, therefore made he thee king, to do 
judgment and justice." And ** She turned and went 
to her own country, she and her servants." Now, 
where was Sheba ? was it in North Ethiopia t a 



198 WOMEN OF THE! OLI^ TESTAMENT. 

land southwest of Arabia ; or in Africa, near the 
Straits of Babel Mandeb ? If she returned to India, 
she carried back with her the knowledge of the 
Lord, and all the wisdom she gained from her visit 
to Solomon. 

Christ speaks of this queen and praises her. 
** The queen of the south shall rise up in the judg- 
ment with this generation, and shall condemn it; 
for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth 
to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a 
greater than Solomon is here/' St. Matthew. 

** The queen of the south shall rise up in judgment 
^\W\ the men oi this generation and condemn them; 
for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to 
hear the wisdom of Solomon, and, behold, a greater 
than Solomon is here." St. Luke. Was this queen 
the queen of the Ethiopians ? If so, was her name 
Candace ?* She taught her people all the wisdom 
Solomon taught her *' concerning the Lord, ' and 
here we have the proof. This eunuch, a man of Ethio- 
pia, of great authority under the queen, whose name 
was Candace (Acts viii. 27), " had come to Jerusalem 
for to worships and returning he was reading Esias 
the prophet, and Philip preached tmto him Jesus. 
Into Ethiopia this man must have taken the knowl- 

*The little maid who waited on Naaman's wife. II. 
Kings v. 



WOM]i:iSf OF l^HK OLD ^rESTAMETSff . 100 

edge of Jesus Christ that he is the Son of God. 
Have they lost this knowledge ? If so, how came 
they to lose it ? 

'^ Naaman was a great man in Syria, honorable and 
mighty in valor, but a leper." 

This little maid was a captive, she was young and 
a slave, not thought much of even in these days, 
still less in those days ; yet this little maid said unto 
her mistress, **Would God my lord were w4th the 
prophet that is in Samaria, for he w^ould recover 
him of his leprosy." This child w^as not ignorant; 
she was exceedingly wise; her words were repeated 
to Naaman, and he at once followed her advice, and 
in the end was cured. Who was this little niaid 
whose knowledge and wisdom and faith led this rich 
and mighty man to be cured of the leprosy T' 



VASHTI. 
(The Book of Esther.) 
A queen whom Ahasuerus repudiated, and 
whom Esther succeeded. We are told : *' This is 
Ahasuerus which reigned from India even unto 
Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and tw^enty 
provinces." The name of his palace was Shushan ; 
he made a great feast ; ^Hhe power of Persia and 
Media being before him, his queen also made a 



200 WOMEN O^ THE OLD TESTAMENT, 

feast for the women in the royal house which be- 
longed to the king ; and when *' the heart of the 
king was merry with wine," he sent to the queen 
that she should come before him with the royal 
crown to let the people see her beauty, ^*for she 
was fair to look on." The queen refused, so the 
king was very angry, and consulted what he should 
do with Vashti. 

Now this is a book in which the word *^ God " 
does not appear, so we are going to write just what 
we think. In these days, if men were feasting and 
drinking, and a wife refused to appear before them 
to be judged for her beauty and rich dress, to add 
to the glory of the drinking men, we would say 
she had done well to refuse ; modesty and virtue 
forbade her to obey, self-respect and dignity of 
character also forbade her to do so. This was a 
woman asserting herself ; she was more than the 
gold and silver of the king ; she was a woman. 
Here, we think, is the first time that the woman, the 
wife, was divorced for asserting herself. The men in 
council say, If all women know what the queen 
has done they shall despise their husbands ; thus 
shall there arise too much contempt and wrath. 
All the wives shall give to their husbands honor, 
both great and small, and that every man should 
bear rule in his own house. And this was to be 



Women of the old testament. 201 

published according to the language of every 
people." Ah ! Vashti, the time had not come ; 
women went back by yotir act; though it was not 
meant that it should be so for God made man 
and woman equal. 



ESTHER. 
(The Planet Venus.) 

Now in Shusham was a Jew, Mordecai, a captive, 
carried away from Jerusalem. He brought up 
Hadassah, that is Esther. Here again the knowl- 
edge of God must have been taught in Ethiopia. 
Is India the old Ethiopia ? Have they, then, in India 
the knowledge of God, as the Jews of old had ? 

We all know so well the story of Esther and 
Mordecai, her deep humility and fear, when unbid- 
den she went before the king. No wonder she said, 
*' If I perish, I perish." She knew what had hap- 
pened to Vashti, and she feared even death would 
be her lot. This young woman had great courage^ 
and love4 her nation and her people enough to 
die for them. Also, she had been taught obedience. 
But her uncle sends her threatening words, *' Think 
not that thou shalt escape, more than all the Jews, 
for if thou boldest thy peace, deliverance will come 
some other way, and thou and thy father's house 



202 WOMEN OV THt5 OLD Tl^STAMENf. 

shall be destroyed/' Poor Esther! she was to meet 
death either way, if she spoke and if she spoke 
not. So, by the self-sacrifice of this woman^ the 
nation of the Jews, or rather those in captivity 
in the land of Ethiopia, were to be saved alive. 
And it was so. 

There were two women whom men thought were 
created for their pleasure alone — to obey them the 
same as a slave must, to be used to their interest 
alone. It is true that this was in the land of Ethi- 
opia. We are not told that they knew God, but they 
sent out a decree in regard to women, which was 
readily adopted by all nations; man, because man, 
was superior to woman only because a man. And so 
a yoke fell upon woman-kind, which only a physi- 
cal battle could have raised from them. And even 
the Jews, God's chosen people, made use of brave 
Esther. She was given to a heathen king ; and, 
though she pleaded for her life, she was threatened 
with death if she made not a willing sacrifice of 
herself for the Jews. 

Now, Vashti fell by pride — for the qualities we 
give above are modern and Christian; she could not 
have had them. 

Esther — the Persian name Hadassah, daughter of 
Abihail, son of Shimer, son of Thish, a Benjaminite 
(Mordecai), and cousin of Mordecai. She was an 



Women of^ tk^ old tKStAMENf. 203 

orphan captive, and was selected by Ahasuerns 
(Xerxes, son of Darius Hystaspis,) as his queen, 
instead of Vashti. 



THE WITCH OF ENDOR. 
(Endor — " Fountain of Dor.") 
'* Dor was a city of Manasseh, four miles south of 
Tabor, or at the south of the sea of Galilee in Issa- 
char.'* It is now called Endur, and the rock on which 
it stands is hollowed into caves. Prom the slopes of 
Gilboa to Endor is seven or eight miles, oyer rugged 
ground. "And Saul had put away those that had 
familiar spirits, and wizards, out of the land." I. Sam- 
uel. Though he had done so, and rightly done so, 
yet, when he got no answer from God by the pro- 
phets concerning the army of the Philistines, he 
said to his servant, seek me a woman that has a 
familiar spirit, that I may inquire of her. And Saul 
disguised himself. "And when the woman saw 
Samuel, she cried with a loud voice, saying, why 
hast thou deceived me, for thou art Saul." And 
Saul answered Samuel and said, " God is departed 
from me, and answereth me no more." This man, 
finding that God had departed from him, trusted in 
witches; he got no answer from God simply because 
he would do evil. If we wish knowledge from God 



204: WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

we will not get it unless in the depth of our soul we 
do and wish iox good. However, Saul, a ;;z^;^, sought 
the woman witch, when there were also men wizards. 
Now, about the Witch of Endor, we would say this, 
we beg you to read what we say, only as our idea 
about it. We may be wrong, but this is what we 
think. It was only what is called hypnotism in these 
days. A man who has delirium from firing his brain 
with intoxicating drinks, believes certainly that what 
he sees in his mind is visible to others, and verily 
true ; the same with a man under the effect of opium. 
You cannot be hypnotized unless you yield yourself 
to it. That is, you yield your mind to the stronger 
mind. If you resist it, it cannot overcome you 
if you are in strong health, and in your right mind. 
Now, Saul, when he saw the host of the Philistines, 
he was afraid and his heart greatly tre?nbled. His heart, 
means his mind was greatly troubled. Now, Saul 
knew that he had not obeyed the voice of God to 
execute God's wrath upon Amalek, and that there- 
fore the Lord had done this thing unto him. He 
knew that the Lord had rent the kingdom from his 
hand and given it to David. Saul went willingly 
to put his mind under the spell of the witch. She 
is represented in pictures with a boiling kettle, 
the fumes of which may have had the same effect 
on Saul as opium. In his mind he had thought 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 205 

long and earnestly of Samuel. He wished \,o see him; 
saw him in his deranged thoughts, and heard him 
speak, just as he knew^ all the time, that Samuel 
had spoken when alive, and would speak again if 
alive. 



ATHALIAH. 

(** Jah is strong.") 

II. Kings, viii. A daughter of Jezebel, wife of 
Omri, King of Israel, who became the wife of 
Jehoram, King of Judah, and ruled in Judah after 
the death of her son Ahaziah. Now, this woman also 
sinned through pride. She wished to rule in Judah. 
She let nothing stand in her way, for *' when she 
saw that her son was dead, she arose and destoyed 
all the seed royal." Many a king had been as 
wicked as she, but we are telling all we know, good 
or evil of wo7nen. 

Jehosheba^ the daughter of King Joram, sister of 
Ahaziah, took Joah, the son of Ahaziah, and stole 
him from among the king's sons which were slain, 
and they hid him and his nurse so that he was not 
slain. Athaliah reigned six years. 

** And when Athaliah heard the noise of the 
guard and of the people, she came to the people 
into the temple of the Lord^ and when she looked 



206 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

the 3^oung king was crowned. And Athaliah rent 
her clothes and cried, Treason, Treason. And the 
priest said, Take her out, let her not be slain in the 
house of the Lord ; and she was taken by the way 
the horses came into the king's stables, and there 
was she slain." Now m II. Chron., we have this : 
*' The inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah 
king.'* The Arabians had slain all the eldest sons 
of Jehoram. His mother counseled him to do 
wickedly, and Ahaziah was slain by Jehu, and when 
Athaliah saw that they had slain her son, she 
destroyed all the royal children of the house of 
Judah. In those days, when they killed each 
other and fought for the throne, this woman^ 
who was wicked, does not seem to be more 
wicked than the men. She was proud and ambi- 
tious ; so were the men proud and ambitious, 
and we have a long list of kings ** who did evil in the 
sight of the Lord," and so died. 



THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON BETWEEN 
TWO WOMEN. 
I. Kings iii. Solomon had a dream in which he 
heard God ask him to * Ask what I shall give thee.' 
He asked for wisdom. As soon as he came to Jeru- 
salem two women came before him, each claiming 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 207 

to be the mother of a child. The true mother was 
willing to part with it ; the other wished it dead 
rather than see the other woman happy. Solomon's 
first just judgment was given to women. 



JEZEBEL. 

A daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidonians, and 
the wife of Ahab and mother of Joram, kings of 
Israel. 

This woman's husband, Ahab, '* did evil in the 
sight of the Lord, above all that were before him;" 
and, as if it had been alight thing for him to walk 
in the sins of Jeroboam, that he took to wife Jeze- 
bel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, 
who served Baal; and Ahab did more to provoke 
the Lord to anger than all the kings of Israel; and 
in his days Hiel built Jericho; he laid the founda- 
tion thereof in Aboriam his first born, and set up 
the gates in his youngest son Tegab, according to 
the word of the Lord which he spake by Joshua, son 
of Nun. A famine was sent in their reign, which 
lasted three years. *' And Ahab told Jezebel all 
that Elijah had done, and how he had slain the 
prophets of Baal." Then Jezebel sent word to Eli- 
jah that she would slay him ; so he fled. And Jezebel 
put to death the prophets of the Lord; one hundred 



208 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, 

were hid in a cave. And she fed four hundred and 
fifty prophets of Baal, and four hundred prophets 
of the groves. And Jezebel came to Ahab when he 
was sick, because he could not get the vineyard from 
Naboth ; and this wicked woman forged the king's 
name. She wrote, proclaiming a fast, and set Na'^ooth 
on high among the people, and set two men of 
Belial to bear witness against him, to say he blas- 
phemed God and the king, then stone him that he 
might die. Then she told Ahab to go and take the 
vineyard, as Naboth was dead. Then the prophet 
of the Lord met him and told him how he should 
die, and '' the dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of 
Jezreel." This Ahab, who was so wicked, we are told 
" Jezebel his wife stirred up." " When Joram (Jez- 
ebel's son) saw Jehu, he said * Is it peace, Jehu ?' " 
and he answered, "What peace, so long as the 
whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witch- 
crafts are so many." 

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel Jezebel 
heard of it, and she painted her face and tired her 
head, and looked out of a window; and as Jehu 
entered she said, " Had Gimri peace, who slew his 
master?" and Jehu said, '^Throw her down," and 
they did so. And he said, '* Go see now this cursed 
w^oman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter." 

We have written of this terrible woman, as she has 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 209 

SO often been spoken ot ; so many women since 
her day have been called '^painted Jezebels " most 
unjustly. We have shown you, by the Bible, what 
this Jezebel was; there is no redeeming point in her, 
she is utterly vile. She is one of the women of the 
Bible most spoken of by men. We have often heard 
her name as given to women living in our days. 

Jezebel's father w^orshipped Baal ; her husband^ 
Ahab, was utterly wicked; and Joram, her son^ also 
wicked. This one wicked woman: — for her coun- 
terpart read the long list of kings in the Bible, of 
whom we are told that they *^ did evil in the sight 
of the Lord." 



JOB'S WIFE AND DAUGHTERS. 
His wife was a foolish w^oman, and his first daugh- 
ters all die; and the three whom God afterwards 
gave him — Jemima, Kezia, Karem-happuch : — the 
first means ** pure, fortunate day;" the second means 
'' cassia." And in all the land were no women found 
so fair as the daughters of Job; and their father gave 
them inheritance among their brethren. Here is the 
good example that girls should inherit equally with 
the boys. 



210 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

JUDITH. 

This took place in the reign of Nabuchodonosor, 
king of Nineveh ; and Holofernes besieged the 
Israelites ; and they, the Israelites, were so hard 
pressed that they decided to surrender within five 
days. Now, Judith heard of it. She was the daugh- 
ter of Merari, and fourteen generations are given 
of her father's family, and her husband's name was 
Manasse, and Judith was a widow three years and 
four months; she wore sackcloth and widow's appa- 
rel, and she fasted all the days of her w^idowhood. 
We are told she had a goodly countenance, and was 
very beautiful to behold. Her husband had left her a 
large fortune, and no one gave her an ill word, ** for 
she feared God greatly." When she heard that the 
city was to be given up within five days, this woman 
risked her life and her honor to save the lives of her 
people. She was courageous and patriotic. She 
prayed to God for help and guidance. She took her 
maid, and the food her religion permitted her to 
eat, and she put on her rich apparel, and went forth 
alone from the gate of her city. Read the story of 
what she did, and see how, in the camp of the ene- 
my, she saved her honor. She destroyed the enemy 
and returned to her people. This woman, of those 
barbarous days, had worldlj wisdom. Read her 



WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 211 

speech to the governors and the inhabitants of 
Bethulia, before she takes her life in her hands and 
goes forth to almost certain death or dishonor. 
Read how wisely she acts and speaks when in the 
camp of the enemy; how she manages not to eat 
anything but what she brought with her. She might 
have been poisoned; she might have been drugged; 
but her wisdom, her worldly knowledge, saved her. 
She fought the battle single-handed. The 
Assyrians cried '' one woman of the Hebrews 
hath brought shame upon the house of King Nabu- 
chodonosor, for behold Holofernes upon the ground 
without a head." '^And fear and trembling fell 
upon them, so that there was no man that durst 
abide in the sight of his neighbor, but rushing out 
all together they fled into every way of the plain 
and of the hill country. " So this woman was a 
general and so fought this battle and won ; and we 
are told they got many spoils, *' for the multitude 
was very great. " Then Joacim, the High Priest, 
and the ancients of the Children of Israel that 
dwelt in Jerusalem, came to see the good things 
that God had showed to Israel, and to see Judith 
and to salute her; and when they came to her, they 
blessed her with one accord. " Read the blessing, 
and also the song of thanksgiving which Judith 



212 WOMEN OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 

sang : '^ Begin unto my God, exalt him, and call 
upon His name." 

Judith refused to marry, lived to be 105 years 
old, lived in her husband's house, made her maid 
free, was buried with her husband, and Israel 
lamented her seven days, and before she died she 
gave away her goods to all them that were nearest 
of kindred to her husband and herself, and by her 
wisdom she kept her nation in peace. 

This woman s story of her saving her country is 
very much like David and Goliath. And both gave 
God the praise. 

THE HISTORY OF SUSANNA. 

(Set apart from the beginning of Daniel because it is not in 

the Hebrew.) 

This is the first judgment of young Daniel, 
and this woman's character is a very pure one^ 
though living in those barbarous days. Her hus- 
band's name was Joacin; he was very rich and hon- 
orable, and he was a judge. Susanna, his wife, was 
the daughter of Chelcias ; she was very beautiful 
and feared the Lord, We are told of the lovely 
garden joining the house, and how Susanna never 
went there until all the people had departed from 
h^r husband's hoiis^. Then we are told of the con- 



womeK' of the old testament. 213 

duct of the elders and how they falsely accused her ; 
how death was the punishment either way ; how she 
said she would rather die than sin in the sight of 
the Lord. We are told that Susanna was **a very 
delicate woman, and beauteous to behold," and she 
went through a public and hard trial, and was con- 
demned to death. Now, Susanna cried out aloud to 
God for her innocence, and the Lord heard her ; 
therefore, when she was led to be put to death, ** the 
Lord raised up the holy spirit of a young youth, 
whose name was Daniel, " who cried, " I am clear 
from the blood of this woman. " Read his judg- 
ment. 

The first defense of woman's honor. So on woman 
men laid the safeguard of purity and woman's honor, 
without giving her the liberty to equally defend 
herself. And as the world went on they despised her 
w^eakness to defend herself against them (the men) 
and stoned her if she was not strong enough to 
fight them, until Christ came and forced them to 
see that they were as despicable as they thought the 
woman to be. 



THE MOTHER OF THE MACCABEES. 
This woman is like a Spartan mother and stands 
equal to the Christian martyrs, for she saw her 



214 WOMEN OF THE OLB TESTAMENT. 

seven sons put to most cruel deaths rather than 
disobey her God and deny him. These young men 
exhorted one another, with the mother, to die man- 
fully, saying : *' The Lord God looketh upon us, and 
in truth hath comfort in us, as Moses in his song 
declared, saying: *And he shall be comforted in 
his servants,' " and " Thou like a fury takest us out 
of this present life, but the King of the World shall 
raise us up, who have died for his laws, unto ever- 
lasting life. " 

We are told of how bravely these men died. " But 
the mother was marvelous above all and worthy of 
honorable memory, and she was also put to death." 

RIZPAH. 

II. Samuel. This woman was one of Saul's wives. 
Her two sons were put to death with five other sons 
of Saul. 

This strong-minded woman, spirited, and of the 
physical strength of those da3^s, did this : 

"And Rizpah, the daughter Aiah, took sack- 
cloth and spread it for her upon the rock, from the 
beginning of harvest until water dropped upon 
them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds 
of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of 
the field by night. And it was told David what 



Women ov thU old testament. 215 

Rizpah had done, so he gave her sons a royal 
burial. 

When Joab was beseiging the city of Abel, and 
all the people that were with Joab battered the wall 
to throw it down, then cried a wise woman out of 
the city. She called Joab to speak to him, and 
when he was come near, she said : *^ Art thou 
Joab ?" and he said ^' I am he," and she said ** Hear 
the words of thine handmaid,'' and he said " I do 
hear." Then she spake, saying, ^' They shall surely 
ask counsel at Abel." A nd so they ended the matter. 
This undoubtedly was a prophesy, and this learned 
woman knew it. She said, '^ I am one of them that 
are peaceable and faithful in Israel. Thou seekest to 
destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why wilt thou 
swallow up the inheritance of the Lord ?" And Joab 
answered and told her that he did not wish to 
destroy the city, only one man, who had lifted up 
his hand against King David. Then this woman 
" went unto all the people in her wisdom'' and they 
cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bichri, and cast 
it to Joab, and the army of Joab retired from the 
city, and returned to Jerusalem. 



216 Women o^ th^ old l^EgTAMEi^-r. 

So thi^ one woman, by her courage and wisdom, 
saved the city, and all in it, except one guilty man. 



A MOTHER OF ISRAEL 

Undoubtedly means at woman of wisdom, able to 
guide and direct, to counsel, to encourage, to govern, 
to direct a battle, to take part in her country's wel- 
fare, therefore, what we call a country's politics. 

In these old times women did not count for 
much ; and yet, now and then, we find a woman of 
such grand and strong character, now called strong- 
minded, that the whole nation, the whole army, lis- 
tened and obeyed her. 



BOOK IX. 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

[217] 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



And now we come to the women of the New TevS- 
tament. We must remember that all things were 
changed after the birth, teachings, and death of 
Christ. The women of the Old Testament were 
painfully, slowly working their way upward from 
the level to which they fell after the fall of Adam 
and Eve. Very slowly, for it was generation by 
generation, and they were the counterpart of the 
men of their days — as evil, as wicked, as good, as 
wise, as learned as the men. They were praised for 
very different things; those we have already spoken 
of were said to be very beautiful; they made use of 
their beauty for good or for evil ; they had great 
courage, and fought the battles of their countries. 
They outwitted men for good and for evil. They 
also were inspired, and prophesied. They preached, 
they taught, they rebuked, the same as the men 
did; they gave ad/ice for the good of their nation. 



220 . Women of the new testameistt, 

MARY. 

(" Bitter/') 
The Mother of Jesus, and wife of Joseph ; the 
Virgin Mary ; how can we say ^// that should be said 
of this woman, so pure, so chosen to be the Mother 
of Christ, who gave him his human nature alone ! 



ELIZABETH. 

Of the daughters of Aaron, the wife of the priest 
Zacharias, she was righteous before God, walking 
in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
Lord, and bla?neless. She was the mother of John 
the Baptist, whom the angel Gabriel said would be 
filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's 
womb. She was the cousin of the Virgin Mary. 
Elizabeth, also, was filled with the Holy Ghost, and 
prophesied. When she heard the salutation of Mary, 
the Mother of Jesus, she spoke out with a loud 
voice, ** Blessed art thou among women, and blessed 
is the fruit of thy womb ; and whence is this to me, 
that the mother of my Lord should come to me ; 
for, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded 
in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy, 
and blessed is she that believed, for there shall be a 
performance of those things which were told her 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 221 

from the Lord." Elizabeth had great humility, 
for she knew that the angel Gabriel had certi- 
fied that her child would be filled with the Holy 
Ghost, even from his mother's womb, and she 
prophesied that the child to be born of *'Mary, the 
mother of Jesus/' was her Lord, and the Lord of her 
child. She also told Mary that she, *' Mary," was 
blessed, because she believed what the Lord had 
told her. 

Peter's mother-in-law was sick of a fever. Jesus 
touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she 
arose and ministered unto them. Cured by Jesus, 
ever gentle, full of compassion to all women, greatly 
were they blessed by Christ, our Lord; being cured, 
she at once arose, not idle, but ministered unto 
them. 

A woman, whose name we have not, was diseased 
twelve years, came behind Christ, touched the hem 
of his garment, and said within herself, if I may but 
touch his garment I shall be whole ; but Jesus 
turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, 
''Daughter, be of good comfort ; thy faith hath made 
thee whole." And the woman was made whole from 
that hour. This woman was humble ; she came 
behind; touched but the hem of his garment. Jesus 
calls her '^ Daughter"; she, then, in spirit and soul, 
was a daughter of God, This woman is spoken of 



222 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

in Mark ; we are told that the physicians and all 
the money she had could not cure her. This woman, 
though in fear, told all the truth. St. Luke, the phy- 
sician, also tells of this woman ; he may have tried 
to cure her as a physician, so we must take his word 
that she could not be cured by any one but Christ. 
Both accounts tell us that Jesus perceived that vir- 
tue had gone out of him. To whom did it go ? It 
went to this woman ; this timid, fearing woman at 
once had strength and courage to fall before Jesus, 
and declare, before all the people, why she had 
touched Jesus, and how she was healed. We hear 
no more of this woman, but we can well understand 
that a woman who had received virtue from Jesus 
must have liv^ed and died a noble and virtuous life. 

Who are the mother and sister of Christ t Jesus 
said, '^ Behold my mother and my brethren, for 
whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is 
in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and 
mother'' 

We speak of the wicked as well as the good 
women, for so doth the Bible, and here we have 
Herodias and her daughter. Herod had taken to 
himself his brother's wife. John the Baptist had told 
him that it was not lawful for him to have her. It is 
this woman who plans the death of John the Baptist, 
and here is an account of dancing with a great sin 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 223 

as the result. This dance was by no means an inno- 
cent one. She knew what effect it would have on 
Herod, and she gained her end. The mother used 
her daughter to gain her end, which was to live on 
in sin. Do women know now that such a thing is 
not lawful ; spoken by God's prophet, the one who 
came to prepare the way for Christ. 

How much can be said on this subject in these 
days ! The gossip of our friends, the papers of the 
day, all tell us how women will have their way, 
carry their end at any cost, when they give way to 
their passions. It is hard to find a divorced 
woman in these days who has not married again. 
How are their children to be Christian children ? 
They have the disgrace first of having a divorced 
mother ; then of a mother 7narried according to 
the world's code of morals, to whom John the 
Baptist would certainly say : '' It is not lawful for 
you to have him." Do these women know that 
the evil they are doing will hereafter be fully 
realized and felt by them on and on, from one gen- 
eration to another. They will die, but their works 
will follow them. They gratified their passions 
regardless of the evil it brought to others and the 
evil it brought into the world. Their punishment 
will be that they will realize to the utm.ost what 
fhey have done so long as the evil lives in this >\^orld. 



224 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

They, the originators, will feel the evil as long as 
the world lasts. 

These are two women unto whom Christ showed 
great mercy. To the mother he said : " O woman, 
great is thy faith, be it unto thee even as thou wilt, " 
and her daughter was made whole from that very 
hour. Christ here gives this w^oman the power to 
cure her daughter by her will. Great truly was her 
faith, for Christ does not say here, Your daughter is 
cured, or, I will come and cure her by a touch, but 
he says, *' As thou wilt." Now, he says to us in 
answer to our prayers " As thou wilt," and he knows 
what it is we truly will in our hearts, the end we 
have in view, the object we wish to accomplish. Is 
that end only good to others as well as ourselves ? If 
evil, he would not give us the power to have it, *' as 
we will. " Would we wish it ? When Christ fed 
the four thousand men we are told he fed, besides 
men, women and children. They were equal in his 
sight and in his blessing. 

The mother of Zebedee's children (her two sons) 
asked Jesus that **one may sit on thy right hand 
and the other on thy left in thy kingdom." Jesus 
told her she knew not what she asked ; then said he, 
"Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink 
of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am 
baptized with." Thej say, '' We are able ;" and h^ 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 225 

saith unto them, ye shall drink indeed of my cup, 
and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized 
with ; but to sit on my right hand and on my left, is 
not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for 
whom it is prepared of my father. " This woman's 
ambition was for her sons, and only for herself 
through them ; that is, they were her sons. What 
earthly idea had they of Christ's kingdom. The 
cup of sorrow and suffering on earth, the baptism 
of death, could not have been in their thoughts, for 
Christ says, '' Ye know not what ye ask/' In a 
great many of our prayers we know not what we 
ask, for we cannot foresee. 

Christ, in one of his parables, speaks of the ten 
virgins J mark they are virgins^ Jive wise, (then woman 
can be wise !) five were foolish. We are told so often 
in these days that women can be foolish, that we 
also know they can be so. We are told how 
five were ready with their souls, to enter heaven at 
any moment, though they also slept with the others, 
in the long waiting for Christ's coming. There was 
not enough oil for all among these virgins. Each 
soul is individual, by her goodness alone does her 
soul pass into heaven at the last moment. She can- 
not take the soul of the foolish with her. They all 
knew for whom they waited. 



226 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

*^ Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day 
nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh/* 

No doubt women were listening to Christ when he 
spoke this parable, some wise, some foolish. He 
speaks the parable; they, the wise, are the ones to lay 
it up in their minds and to get thereby courage to 
continue patience to wait. The foolish had time to 
become wise, but were too lazy and foolish to think 
of serious things. These ten vargins are of no mean 
repute, for the Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto 
them, and it is Christ, the bridegroom, whom 
they go forth to meet, the spirit of Christ w^hich 
is working in the world — it is these virgins, all 
women, who go forth to meet the spirit. We read 
that their call to meet Him was sudden, when 
not looked for, in the night, the night of ignorance, 
and the call was " Go out and meet Him." Shut up 
you cannot meet him; go out in the world and meet 
Him. We know, then, that the foolish wished the 
wise to help them when it was too late. We are 
told all arose. 

The call is heard by all. The wise women who 
were ready went in with Christ, and the door was 
shut. We are told they were all virgins. 

St. Matthew tells us of the woman with the ala- 
baster box of very precious ointment, which she 
poured on the head of Jesus, as he sat at meat in 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 227 

the house of Simon the leper, in Bethany. The 
disciples had indignation against the woman, say- 
ing, *' To what purpose is this wavSte ; this ointment 
might have been sold for much and given to the 
poor." How like men of these days, who accuse 
women of waste ! All four of the Gospels speak of 
this woman, for Jesus said : ^' Wheresoever this 
gospel shall be preached in the whole wo7^ld, there 
shall also this, that this woman has done, be told 
for a memorial of her." And so it has been aud will 
be told. And Jesus said to the men, " Wh}^ trouble 
ye the woman ? for she hath wrought a good work 
upon me; for ye have the poor always with you, but 
me ye have not always ; for in that she poured this 
ointment on my body, she did it for my burial." 
St. Mark tells us that she brake the box, and that the 
ointment might have been sold for three hundred 
pence, and that Jesus said, *^ Whensoever ye will ye 
may do the poor good," and that the woman had done 
7vhat she could. St. Luke (the physician) tells us the 
woman was a sinner, and that Simon was a Pharisee, 
that the woman stood at Jesus' feet, behind him 
weeping, and washed his feet with her tears, and 
did wipe them with the hair of her head, and kissed 
his feet and anointed them with the ointment. We 
are told that the Pharisee spoke within himself, yet 
Jesus knew it. This man said to himself, ^' This 



228 WOMEN OF THE KEW TESTAMENT. 

man, if he were a prophet, would have known who 
and what manner of woman this is that toucheth 
him, for she is a sinner." So this woman had only 
heard things said about her by the men who were 
there. Then Jesus, who had not accused this 
woman of anything, takes her defence himself, and 
tells Simon the Pharisee how much better this 
woman is than Simon himself. And does He 
accuse this woman at all ? No ; all he says to her is 
this : *' Thy sins are forgiven, thy faith hath saved 
thee, go in peace." 

St. John tells us this woman was Mary, the sister 
of Martha and Lazarus, and that the house was 
filled with the odor of the ointment ; that it was 
Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who betrayed him, who 
said the ointment should have been sold and given 
to the poor. We are told that he did not care 
for the poor, that he was a thief, and had the bag. 
The four accounts in other respects are the same. 
How quick these men were to accuse this woman, 
how surprised they were that Jesus even spoke to 
her, and forgave her sins. If this is the story of the 
same woman in all the gospels, and the sister of 
Martha and Lazarus, then we hear of her again as 
sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning the wisdom 
from Him which He said should not be taken 
from her, and as long as the Gospel of Jesus is 



WOMEN OF THU] NEW TI^SrAMENT. 229 

preached, she shall be spoken of, what she did shall 
be told to the whole world as a memorial of her. 

St. Mark and St. Matthew tell us of the woman of 
Canaan who cried to Jesus, *' Have mercy on me, 
O Lord, thou son of David, my daughter is griev- 
ously vexed with a devil," and Jesus tried her faith, 
first. He answered not. The disciples (men) said, 
*' Send her away, for she crieth after us,'' Read, 
then, how Jesus tried her, and her wise and humble 
answer. Also, this woman had patience, courage, 
and perseverance, and Jesus said, *^ O woman, great 
is thy faith ; be it unto thee even as thou wilt." 
According to her will and faith in Jesus — she had 
will enough to have faith — her daughter was cured 
in that hour. Now we have Jairus's daughter, 
even now dead ; but Jesus took her by the hand 
and said, " Damsel, I say unto thee arise," and she 
arose and walked. We are told she was twelve 
years old, and Jesus told them to give her some- 
thing to eat ; she arose, therefore, in perfect health. 

And here we have the poor widow who for the 
support of the temple cast into the treasury two 
mites, which make a farthing. Now, Jesus thought 
enough of this to call his disciples (men) to impress 
this lesson on them — that this poor widow had 
given more than all who had given, for they gave 
of their abundance, she gave all she had. 



230 WOMEN OF THE NEW ^EStAMENl*, 

Let US here say, that we should take account of 
how many women Christ spoke of, in giving to his 
disciples and to us 



HIS PRECIOUS TEACHINGS. 

** Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spik e- 
nard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, 
and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was 
filled with the odor of the ointment. 

*' Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, 
Simon's son, which should betray him, 

*'Why was not this ointment sold for three hun- 
dred pence, and given to the poor ? 

*' This he said, not that he cared for the poor ; but 
because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare 
what was put therein. 

*' Then saith Jesus, Let her alone : against the 
day of my burying hath she kept this. 

" For the poor always ye have with you ; but me 
ye have not always.'* 

'^ And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the 
leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman 
having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, 
very precious ; and she brake the box, and poured // 
on his head. 



WOME.NT OF TlIE NEW i^EgTAMEjSff . 23l 

*^ And there were some that had indignation with- 
in themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the 
ointment made ? 

'* For it might have been sold for more than three 
hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. 
And they murmured against her. 

" And Jesus said, Let her alone ; why trouble ye 
her ? she hath wrought a good work on me. 

** For ye have the poor with you always, and 
whensoever ye will ye may do them good ; but me 
ye have not always. 

'^ She hath done what she could : she is coming 
aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. 

*^ Verily I say unto you. Wheresoever this gospel 
shall be preached throughout the whole world, this 
also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for 
a memorial of her.'* 

" And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of 
the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying. Have 
mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David ; my 
daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 

^^ But he answered her not a word. And his 
disciples came and besought him, saying, send her 
av/ay ; for she crieth after us. 

** But he answered and said, I am not sent but 
unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 



232 WOMEN 01" TPIE NEW TESTAMENT. 

" Then came she and worshipped him, saying, 
Lord, help me. 

'* But he answered and said, It is not meet to take 
the children's bread and to cast // to dogs. 

'^ And she said, Truth, Lord : yet the dogs eat of 
the crumbs which fall from their master's table. 

" Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O 
woman, great is thy faith : be it unto thee even as 
thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole 
from that very hour." 

" And behold, there came a man named Jairus, 
and he was a ruler of the synagogue : and he fell 
down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he 
would come into his house : 

" For he had one only daughter, about twelve 
years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went, 
the people thronged him. 

'^ And a woman having an issue of blood twelve 
years, which had spent all her living upon physi- 
cians, neither could be healed of any, 

** Came behind him and touched the border of his 
garment : and immediately her issue of blood 
stanched. 

*^ And Jesus said. Who touched me ? When all 
denied, Peter, and they that were with him, said, 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 233 

Master, the multitude throng thee, and press thee^ 
and sayest thou, Who touched me ? 

" And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me : 
for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. 

" And when the woman saw that she was not hid, 
she came trembling, and falling down before him, 
she declared unto him before all the people for 
what cause she had touched him, and how she was 
healed immediately. 

** And he said unto her. Daughter, be of good 
comfort : thy faith hath made thee whole ; go in 
peace. 

" While he yet spake, there cometh one from the 
ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him. Thy 
daughter is dead: trouble not the Master. 

^' But when Jesus heard //, he answered him say- 
ing, Fear not : believe only, and she shall be made 
whole. 

" And when he came into the house, he suffered 
no man to go in, save Peter, aad James, and John, 
and the father and the mother of the maiden. 

"And all wept and bewailed her : but he said, 
Weep not: she is not dead but sleepeth. 

'* And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that 
she was dead. 

" And he put them all out, and took her by the 
hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise." 



234 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENI*. 

** Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house 
of Simon the leper, 

" There came nnto him a woman having an ala- 
baster-box of very precious ointment, and poured it 
on his head as he sat at meat. 

" But when his disciples saw //, they had indigna- 
tion, saying, To what purpose /Vthis waste ? 

** For this ointment might have been sold for much, 
and given to the poor. 

^' When Jesus understood /V, he said unto them. 
Why trouble ye the woman ? for she hath 
wrought a good work upon me. 

** For ye have the poor always with you ; but me 
ye have not always. 

*^ For in that she hath poured this ointment on my 
body, she did // for my burial. 

" Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel 
shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also 
this, that this woman hath done, be told for a 
memorial of her." 

" And from thence he arose, and went into the 
borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into an 
house, and would have no man know //.• but he could 
not be hid. 

** For a certain woman, whose young daughter had 



Women of the new TEsTAMENl^ 235 

an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell 
at his feet : 

" (The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenecian by 
nation,) and she besought him that he would cast 
forth the devil out of her daughter. 

*' But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first 
be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's 
bread and cast // unto the dogs. 

'' And she answered and said unto him. Yes, 
Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the chil- 
dren's crumbs. 

*' And he said unto her. For this saying, go thy 
way ; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. 

^*And when she was come to her house, she 
found the devil had gone out, and her daughter lay 
upon the bed. " 

** And behold, a woman in the city, which was a 
sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the 
Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster-box of oint- 
ment. 

"• And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and 
began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them 
with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and 
anointed them with the ointment. 

*' Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him 
saw //, he spake within himself, saying, This man, 



236 WOMEN" OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

if he were a prophet, would have known who and 
what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, 
for she is a sinner. 

^*And Jesus answering, said unto him, Simon, I 
have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith. Mas- 
ter, say on. 

*^ There was a certain creditor, which had two 
debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the 
other fifty. 

" And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly 
forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of 
them will love him the most? 

" Simon answered and said, I suppose that he to 
whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, 
Thou hast rightly judged. 

''And he turned to the woman, and said unto 
Simon, Seest thou this woman ? I entered into 
thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: 
but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped 
them with the hairs of her head. 

" Thou gavest me no kiss : but this woman, since 
the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. 

*'Mine head with oil thou didst not anoint : but 
this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment 

'' Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, which are 
many, are forgiven ; for she loved much : but to 
whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. 



WOMEIS^ OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 237 

''And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 

*' And they that sat at meat with him, began to 
say within themselves Who is this that forgiveth 
sins also ? 

"And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath 
saved thee ; go in peace/' 

" And when Jesus was passed over again by ship 
unto the other side, much people gathered imto 
him: and he was nigh imto the sea. 

'' And behold, there cometh one of the rulers of 
the synagogue, Jairus by name ; and when he saw 
him he fell at his feet, 

'' And besought him greatly, saying, My little 
daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee^ 
come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be 
healed ; and she shall live. 

*'And Jesus went with him ; and much people fol- 
lowed him, and thronged him. 

'' And a certain woman which had an issue of 
blood twelve years, 

** And had suffered many things of many physi- 
cians, and had spent all that she had, and was noth- 
ing bettered, but rather grew worse, 

'' When she heard of Jesus, came in the press 
behind, and touched his garment ; 



238 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

*' For slie said, If I may touch but his clothes, I 
shall be whole. 

*^ And straightway the fountain of her blood was 
dried up ; and she felt in her body that she was 
healed of that plague. 

** And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself 
that virt' ') had gone out of him, turned him about 
in the press, and said. Who touched my clothes ? 

"And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the 
multitude throaging thee, and sayest thou, who 
touchest me ? 

" And he looked round about to see her that had 
done this thing. 

*' But the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing 
what was done in her, came and fell down before 
liim, and told him all the triith. 

" And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath 
made thee whole ; go in peace, and be whole of thy 
plague. 

'^ While he yet spake there came from the ruler 
of the synagogue's house certain which said. Thy 
daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master 
any f tirther ? 

" As soon as Jesus heard the word that was 
spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, 
Be not afraid, only believe. 



WOMEN^ OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 239 

'^ And he suffered no man to follow him, save 
Peter, and James, and John the brother of James. 

**' And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the 
synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that 
wept and wailed greatly. 

" And when he was come in, he saith unto them, 
¥/hy make ye this ado, and weep ? the damsel is not 
dead, but sleepeth. 

''And they laughed him to scorn. But when he 
had put them all out, he taketh the father and 
mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, 
and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 

'^ And he took the damsel by the hand, and said 
unto her, Talitha-cumi : which is, being interpreted. 
Damsel, (I say unto thee) arise. 

*' And straightway the damsel arose, and walked ; 
for she was of the age of twelve years. And they 
w^ere astonished with a great astonishment. 

^' And he charged them straitly that no man 
should know it ; and commanded that something 
should be given her to eat. " 

Here is a woman whose memory will last as long 
as the four gospels are read and taught in the world. 
It was Jesus who said it should be so. This woman 
had possessed something that they all said was very 
precious ; she gave it to Jesus. The men present all 



240 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

said it was a waste, because it had been given to 
Jesus. And to coxier their mean thought they pre- 
tended to think of the poor. One we are told, was a 
thief ; and Jesus tells them all, that the poor they 
have always with them, and can do them good 
whenever they wish. He also defends this woman. 
'* Let her alone, why trouble ye her ; she hath 
wrought a good work on me. She hath done what 
she could." 

The woman of great faith — her daughter " vexed 
with a devil," we now call ill, with a great illness 
or insane ; this woman was not of the Jewish 
nation, and Jesus tries her faith. Her answer could 
not be more humble : *^ Yes, Lord, yet the dogs 
under the table eat the crumbs which fall from the 
master's table." Jesus says, *' O woman, great is thy 
faith, for this saying go thy way, the devil is gone 
out of thy daughter." 

The daughter of Jairus, and the woman ill for twelve 
years, are both examples of faith in Jesus, that He 
is the Son of God. He had power to cure and to 
raise from the dead. Wojuen, not mc7i, are the exam- 
ples here. The woman who touched the hem of 
his garment was humble y and very sure of beiag 
cured ; also she had great courage^ for we are told 
that there was a great multitude of people and that 
the woman trembled with fear. When Jesus said 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 2^1 

'^ somebody touched me, for virtue has gone out of 
me," she had courage to face the multitude, to fall 
at Jesus' feet, and declare all that was done for her 
before all the people, and Jesus said to her '*thy faith 
hath made thee whole, go in peace." 

Now, two of the gospels tell us that the woman 
with the box of ointment poured it on Jesus* head, 
two tell us she anointed his feet. She may have done 
both ; or it may be the account of two different 
women. The last account says she was a sinner, and 
that the Pharisee, thinking himself very pure of all 
sins, accuses this woman, accuses Jesus for not 
knowing that the woman was a sinner. When we 
say a woman is a smner, we generally mean one 
thing — impure. But a Pharisee meant this : " I am 
not as others, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, I fast 
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess." 
This woman may not have been impure in her life ; 
but the Pharisee may have called her a sinner 
because he thought himself so perfect. Jesus, in his 
gentle way, first gets the Pharisee to bid him 
*' Master, say on," then he shows him how much 
better the woman is than the proud Pharisee : for 
having forgiven many sins of this woman, owing to 
her great desire to be forgiven, this woman had 
out of gratitude brought th.e ointment to Jesus. 



242 WOMEN OF TTIE NEW TESTAMENT, 

Again Jesus says, " Thy faith hath saved thee, go in 
peace.*' 

** There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw 
water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 
, " (For his disciples were gone away unto the city 
to buy meat.) 

" Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, 
How is it that thou, being a Jew, asketh drink of 
me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews 
have no dealings with the Samaritans. 

*' Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou 
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith 
to thee. Give me to drink ; thou wouldest have 
asked of him, and he would have given thee living 
water. 

" The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast noth- 
ing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence 
then hast thou that living water ? 

*' Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which 
gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and 
his children, and his cattle ? 

'' Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever 
drinketh of this water, shall thirst again : 

** But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall 
give him, shall never thirst ; but the water that I 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 243 

shall give him, shall be in him a well of water 
springing up into everlasting life. 

*' The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this 
water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to 
draw. 

*^ Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband, 
and come hither. 

*' The woman answered and said, I have no hus- 
band. Jesus said unto her. Thou hast well said, I 
have no husband : 

" For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom 
thou now hast, is not thy husband: in that saidvSt 
thou truly. 

*' The woman saith unto him. Sir, I perceive that 
thou art a prophet. 

" Our fathers worshipped in this mountain ; and 
ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men 
ought to worship. 

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the 
hour Cometh, when ye shall neither in this moun- 
tain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 

" Ye worship ye know not what : we know what 
we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 

" But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true 
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and 
in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship 
him^ 



214 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

*' God is a spirit: and they that worship him must 
worship him in spirit and in truth. 

**The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias 
Cometh, which is called Christ ; when he is come, 
he will tell us all things. 

''Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto thee am 
he, 

" And upon this came his disciples, and marvel- 
led that he talked with the woman : yet no man 
said, What seekest thou ? or, Why talkest thou with 
her ? 

*' The woman then left her waterpot, and went 
her way into the city, and said to the men, 

'' Come, see a man which told me all things that 
ever I did : is not this the Christ ? 

*' Then they went out of the city, and came unto 
him." 

*' And many of the Samaritans of that city 
believed on him for the saying of the woman 
which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 

''So when the Samaritans were come unto him 
they besought him that he would tarry with them : 
and he abode there two days. 

''And many more believed, because of his own 
word ; 

''And said unto the woman, Now we believe, 



';;^OMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 2J:5 

not because of thy saying : for we have heard him 
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, 
the Saviour of the world. " 

"Jesus said to Martha, Whosoever liveth, and be- 
lieveth in me, shall never die. Believest thou this ? 

^* She saith unto him. Yea, Lord : I believe that 
thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should 
come into the w^orld. 

"And when she had so said, she went her way, 
and called Mary her sister secretly, saying. The 
master is come, and calleth for thee. 

" As soon as she heard that^ she arose quickly and 
came unto him. 

" Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but 
was in that place where Martha met him. 

" The Jew^s then which were with her in the 
house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary 
that she rose up hastily, and went out, followed her, 
saying. She goeth unto the grave to weep there. 

" Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, 
and saw him, she fell dowm at his feet, saying unto 
him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had 
not died. 

" When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the 
Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned 
in the spirit, and was troubled. 



246 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

" And said, Where have ye laid him ? They say 
unto him, Lord, come and see. 

*^ Jesns wept. 

" Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him ! 

*' And some of them said, Could not this man, 
which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused 
that even this man should not have died. 

"Jesus therefore again groaning in himself, Com- 
eth to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon 
it. 

*' Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, 
the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, 
Lord, by this time he stinketh : for he hath been 
dead four days. 

" Jesus saith unto her. Said I not unto thee, that 
if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldest see the glory 
of God ?" 

** And early in the morning he came again into 
the temple, and all the people came unto him ; and 
he sat down and taught them. 

*^ And the Scribes and Pharisees brought imto 
him a woman taken in adultery : and when they had 
set her in the midst, 

'* They say tmto him. Master, this woman was 
taken in adultery, in the very act 



■Women of the n^w I'i^stament. 247 

** Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such 
should be stoned : but what sayest thou ? 

^' This they said, tempting him, that they might 
have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and 
with /lis finger wrote on the ground, as though he 
heard them not, 

** So when they continued asking him, he lifted 
up himself, and said unto them. He that is without 
sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. 

"' And again he stooped down, and wrote on the 
ground. 

" And they which heard it, being convicted by 
their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning 
at the eldest, even unto the last : and Jesus was left 
alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 

** When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw 
none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, 
where are those thine accusers ? hath no man con- 
demned thee ? 

** She said. No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto 
her, Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no 
more.'* 

We first have here the woman of Samaria, a woman 
by no means ignorant — read and see. She speaks of 
our father Jacob ; she at once perceived that Jesus 
was a prophet ; she knew that the Jews said that 



248 WOMEK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

Jerusalem was the place to worship, and that the 
Samaritans worship in their mountain. She knew 
that Messias was to come, would be called Christ, 
and when come, would tell her all things. Now, 
Jesus' talk with this woman is recorded ; the disciples, 
we are told, are not present ; to the woman, therefore 
we are indebted for knowing what Jesus said. He 
makes her think. He knows how much of the truth 
she knows, so leads her on to find it herself by 
thinking it out. She does not understand at first 
what the " living water " means. *^ The gift of 
God " was Jesus himself ; " the living water " the 
Holy Ghost, spiritual knowledge, which would give 
her everlasting life. Now, Jesus makes this woman 
think J and in thinking she accuses herself. Jesus 
is very gentle with her, and only tells her that He 
knows the life she is living then. The woman per- 
ceiving him to be a prophet asks him an indirect, 
religious question. Her life of sin, brought to her 
mind by a prophet, turned her thoughts to the way 
to be forgiven, the worship of God, and she wishes 
to find out the right place to worship. 

Then Jesus tells this woman this precious truth : 
" True worshippers shalt worship the Father in 
spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to 
worship him." *^ God is a spirit, and they that wor- 



WOMEN O^ THI^ NEW TESTAMENT. 249 

ship him, must worship him in spirit (soul) and in 
truth." 

Jesus, we think, would not have told this woman 
this great truth, had he not known that she was 
capable of understanding it. Jesus then tells her 
"that salvation is of the Jews." Jesus the Saviour 
was a Jew, and he tells fAis woman that he is Christ, 
This woman forgot she came to draw water from 
the well, went at once back to the city, and said to 
the men^ '* Come and see the Christ." A woman carried 
this lesson and teaching of Christ to the men of a 
city. The men did as she said and left the city to 
come to Christ. If any woman who has influence of 
any kind over men reads this, let her pause and 
think within herself : Is it for good or for evil the 
influence was given her ; is it good or evil she is 
working in the world. The Holy Spirit from Jesus 
knows just how she is living, and can through her 
mind ask her some questions, which will make her 
understand that her life is not hid from Him. 

** Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall 
never die. Believeth thou this ?" This question 
was asked by Jesus of a woman, in one of the hard- 
est trials of faith ever given on this earth ; by a 
grave where a man had been buried four days, who 
had died of a disease — truly dead. This sister had 
seen him die, and seen him buried ; she knew not 



250 WOMEN OF TSli! NEW TESTAMEI^I^.' 

what Jesus was going to do, she could not have 
understood that her brother was to live again on 
this earth. She tells Jesus she believes he is Christ, 
the Son of God, which should come into the world, 
therefore able to do all things. Did she understand 
then, as we can now, that whosoever's soul liveth and 
believeth in Christ it shall never die. She gives us 
those beautiful words, " The Master is come, and 
calleth for thee." These sisters {women) are the 
means that the Jews {men) witness this miracle. 
Mary gives her testimony that she believes that had 
Jesus been there her brother would not have died. 
She believes this fully. Jesus groaned in spirit 
because of their unbelief. They wept because they 
did not believe that Jesus could bring their brother 
back to this life. Jesus said to this woman, ** I told 
thee if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the 
glory of God." 

On the same page we have the woman taken in 
adultery. A woman cannot sin in adultery alone. 
Where, then, was the man in this case ? They let 
him go free ; the woman they wished to stone to 
death. I understand this to have been done by 
these men, after seeing how forgiving Jesus was to 
women ; how gentle, how compassionate to women. 
They could have stoned the woman, without taking 
her to Jesus, Jesus was in the Temple, teaching a 



WOMEN" OI^ THE NEW TESTAME:f^T. 25 1 

large crowd of people. These men wished to try 
him, both by the law of Moses and his compassion 
to women. 

The law of Moses — a sinning woman who had 
broken the law. The man had also broken the law 
of Moses, but Jesus in many cases had taken the 
defence of women. Women counted so low, so of 
no account in those days. What would he do now 
about this woman taken prisoner when in adultery ? 
What he does is this : he forces them to judge them- 
selves, not one man there but that had sinned in 
adultery. They dared not stone the woman. This 
woman was a sinner, but no worse than the men. 
We think we may be very sure that being forgiven 
by Christ, she sinned no more, however tempted to 
do so by the men. 

How strange it must have seemed to the men ; a 
woman of no account, so low, so in their power, 
that they could prove to be a vile sinner, this 
woman the means of making them /<f(?/ that they 
were as vile as she. They deserved to be stoned as 
much as she did. So ashamed did they feel, that 
they left. 

And Jesus asked her, " Hath no man condemned 
thee. Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no 
more'' He does not say that she has not sinned ; on 
the contrary, he decidedly says she has ; he does not 



252 WOMEK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

condemn her to be stoned to death, but tells her to 
go, and sin no more, 

" And there followed him a great company of 
people, and of women, which also bewailed and 
lamented him. 

** But Jesus turning unto them, said. Daughters of 
Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for your- 
selves, and for your children. 

** For behold, the days are coming, in the which 
they shall say. Blessed are the barren, and the 
wombs that never bare, and the paps which never 
gave suck. 

** Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, 
Pall on us ; and to the hills. Cover us. 

" For if they do these things in a green tree, what 
shall be done in the dry ?'* 

*^The Lord then answered him, and said. Thou 
hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath 
loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him 
away to watering ? 

** And ought not this woman, being a daughter of 
Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these 
eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the 
sabbath-day." 

" Either what woman having ten pieces of silver^ 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 253 

if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and 
sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it? 
''And when she hath found //, she calleth her 
friends and//<fr neighbors together, saying, Rejoice 
with me ; for I have found the piece which I had 
lost." ^ 

'' And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the 
kingdom of God ? 

" It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in 
three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened. " 

"' Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened 
unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went 
forth to meet the bridegroom. 

** And five of them were wise, and five were fool- 
ish. 

'* They that were foolish took their lamps, and took 
no oil with them : 

^' But the wise took oil in their vessels with their 
lamps. 

" While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered 
and slept. 

"' And at midnight there was a cry made. Behold, 
the bridegroom cometh ; go ye out to meet him. 

'' Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their 
lamps^ 



254 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

"And the foolish said unto the wise, Give ns of 
your oil ; for our lamps are gone out. 

** But the wise answered, saying. Not so j lest 
there be not enough for us and you : but go ye 
rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 

^^ And while th^y went to buy, the bridegroom 
came ; and they that were ready went in with him 
to the marriage : and the door was shut. 

^* Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, 
Lord, Lord, open to us. 

** But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, 
I know you not. 

" Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day 
nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.*' 

^^ And they did all eat, and were filled : and they 
took up of the fragments that remained twelve 
baskets full. 

" And they that had eaten were about five thous- 
and men, beside women and children." 

" That he entered into a certain village : and a 
certain woman, named Martha, received him into her 
house. 

*' And she had a sister called Mary, which also 
sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 

" But Martha was cumbered about much serving, 
and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 255 

that my sister hath left me to serve alone ? bid her 
therefore that she help me. 

*' And Jesus answered, and said unto her, Martha, 
Martha, thou art careful, and troubled about many, 
things : 

^" But one thing is needful ; and Mary hath chosen 
that good part, which shall not be taken away from 
her." 

'^ Saying, There was in a city a judge, which 
feared not God, neither regarded man. 

*'And there was a widow in that city ; and she 
came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adver- 
sary. 

** And he would not for a while : but afterward 
he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor 
regard man, 

'^ Yet, because this widow troubleth me, I will 
avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary 
me. 

*^ And the Lord said. Hear what the unjust judge 
saith. 

** And shall not God avenge his own elect, which 
cry day and night unto him, though he bear long 
with them ?" 

*^ Then came to him Ai's mother and his brethren, 
and pould not come at hiixj for the press. 



256 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

^* And it was told him by certain, which said, Th}^ 
mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to 
see thee. 

'* And he answered and said unto them, my mother 
and my brethren are these which hear the word of 
God, and do it." 

" And behold, there was a woman which had a 
spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed 
together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 

" And when Jesus saw her, he called her to hini^ 
and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from 
thine infirmity. 

** And he laid his hands on her : and immediately 
she was made straight, and glorified God.*' 

"• Another parable spake he tinto them ; The 
kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a 
woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till 
the whole was leavened." 

" And forthwith, when they were come out of the 
synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon 
and Andrew, with James and John. 

** But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever ; 
and anon they tell him of her. 

" And he catpe and took her by the hand, and 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 257 

lifted her up ; and immediately the fever left her, 
and she ministered unto them." 

^' And he answered them, saying, Who is my 
mother, or my brethren ? 

'' And he looked round about on them which sat 
about him, and said, Behold, my mother and my 
brethren ! 

'* For whosoever shall do the Vvnll of God, the 
same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." 

"Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's 
children, with her sons, worshipping him^ and desir- 
ing a certain thing of him. 

" And he said unto her, What wilt thou ? She 
saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may 
sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the 
left, in thy kingdom. 

^' But Jesus answered and said^ Ye know not what 
ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall 
drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I 
am baptized with ? They say unto him. We are able. 

'' And he saith unto them. Ye shall drink indeed 
of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I 
am baptized with : but to sit on my right hand, and 
on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to 
them for whom it is prepared of my Father." 



258 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

" Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King 
Cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and 
a colt the foal of an ass." 

*• And he looked up and saw the rich men casting 
their gifts into the treasury. 

** And he saw also a certain poor widow, casting 
in thither two mites. 

** And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this 
poor widow hath cast in more than they all. 

^* For all these have of their abundance cast in 
unto the offerings of God : but she of her penury 
hath cast in all the living that she had.'* 

" Which devour widows' houses, and for a pre- 
tence make long prayers : these shall receive greater 
damnation. 

" And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and 
beheld how the people cast money into the treasury : 
and many that were rich cast in much. 

*^ And there came a certain poor widow, and she 
threw in two mites, which make a farthing. 

*' And he called unto him his disciples, and saith 
unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor 
widow hath cast more in, than all they which have 
cast into the treasury. 

" For all they did c^§t in of their abundance : but 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 259 

she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all 
her living." 

^' And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered 
into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was 
taken with a great fever ; and they besought him 
for her. 

*' And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever ; 
and it left her : and immediately she arose and min- 
istered unto them." 

*' Now when he came nigh to the gate of the 
city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the 
only son of his mother, and she was a widow : and 
much people of the city was with her. 

" And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion 
on her, and said unto her, Weep not. 

** And he came and touched the bier : and they 
that bare him stood still. And he said, Young man, 
I say unto thee, Arise. 

" And he that was dead sat up, and began to 
speak : and he delivered him to his mother." 

In all these records Jesus teaches a truth, a moral, 
a lesson, and it is by a woman^ through a wo7?ian 
to the world; the example is a woman. He speaks 
to a woman, the reproof is to women, the praise given 
to women^ the sick cured are women. 



260 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

First we have the wo7ne7i who followed Christ to 
his death and lamented him. To the women he 
speaks these words: ^' Weep for yourselves and your 
children." This refers to the destruction of Jeru- 
salem. It also has a spiritual meaning. In those 
days it was thought a reproach to a woman not to 
be married and have children. They could not rise 
above this. They could not realize that the purity 
of a woman would ever be the possession of herself, 
the strength of her soul over her body. There is a 
higher life than being married. All women cannot 
receive it, but those who can, doubtless stand high- 
est in the world and understand it. 

Then we next have Christ saying to the man who 
would not have a woman cured on the Sabbath day: 
*' Thou hypocrite." This man showed more com- 
passion to his ox and ass than to a woman who had 
been ill eighteen years. Then we have this woman 
the means of Christ's lesson that we should do 
good on the Sabbath-day and not strain the com- 
mandment of keeping the Sabbath-day, as refus- 
ing to relieve suffering on that day. 

Now we have the careful woman who hunts the lost 
piece of silver. She seeks diligently until she finds 
it, and rejoices when she has found it. This is told 
them to make them understand that there is joy in 



WOMEN OF THE Nl^W TEStAMEJSft. 2Gl 

the presence of the angels of God over one sinner 
that repenteth. 

Again, ** the Kingdom of God is like leaven which 
a wo7nan took . . . till the whole was leavened." A 
woman, then, by her good life, can make all who see 
how she lives be better in their lives by her exam- 
ple. 

Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened 
unto ten virgins. We know the story of the wise 
and foolish ; the reward to the wise, who were 
ready and fit to enter the Kingdom, the utter fail- 
ure of the foolish. There are other things to live 
for than foolishness. The virgins seem to be all 
alike, except that the wise thought to be ready 
before they slept, or waited, so that they were ready 
before the doors closed forever. Young girls who 
love pleasure and think of foolishness, of flirting 
with men, and marry without thinking, you will be 
called the same as the others, and your soul will 
not be ready. 

When Christ fed the five thousand men we are told 
he also fed women and children. This was earthly 
bread ; but the spiritual bread to our souls is also 
given to women as well as to men. Then we have 
Martha ; she had a house and received Je.sus. She 
was a caretaking housekeeper. She overdid it, for 
we are told she was cumbered about much serving. 



262 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

Now Jesus did not upbraid her, he only tells her that 
she is careful and troubled about many things 
and that only one thing is needful, and that her 
sister Mary has chosen it, and it shall not be taken 
from her. We are told that Mary sat at Jesus 
feet and heard his words. "Sat at his feet," of 
course, means was taught by him, the same as 
Paul had sat at the feet of his teacher. Then, if 
Mary was taught by Christ of the Kingdom of God, 
how fit she must have been to teach others^ certainly 
as much so as his diciples. 

Now Jesus chooses a woman again to teach a 
lesson, which is, that God will hear and avenge his 
own elect that pray to him day and night, though 
he bear long with them. The woinan (a widow) went 
to a judge to be freed of her adversary. The judge 
was a man who feared not God or man, but because 
the widow did not cease to ask him, he did what she 
asked him to do to get rid of her. (How true this 
is even in our days !) This was an unjust judge ; 
therefore what this woman wished was only justice 
to herself. This woman prayed to be delivered from 
the man who persecuted her. Therefore it is right 
to try and free ourself from persecution, or from an 
enemy. 

Then we come to where Jesus tells us who is liis 



WOME.^ OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 263 

mother and brethren : those who Jiear the word of 
God, and do it. 

Then Simon's mother-in-law, sick of a fever, and 
Jesus cures her. 

Then we have the mother of Zebedee's children, 
and she asks for her sons, not for herself. Jesus 
answered by asking them a question. Were they 
able to suffer and die with him ? They answer, Yes. 
Then Jesus says they will suffer and die ; but he 
cannot give what they ask for ; but it will be given 
to them to whom the father will give it. They asked 
for a spiritual gift, though they may not have 
understood it so. In fact, Jesus says they did not 
know what they were asking. They thought the 
kingdom of Christ was to be an earthly kingdom. 
How little they then understood what the kingdom 
of Jesus was to be ! 

The church is named si woman: " Tell ye the daugh- 
ter of Sion.*' 

Then we have the poor widow, a woman w^hom 
Jesus speaks of to give those who heard him, and us 
through them, the lessons He teaches. The rich 
men gave their gifts to the treasury ; they gave of 
their abundance. Jesus says the two mites given by 
the poor woman counted more in God's sight than 
the large gifts of the rich men or women. Jesus 
had just been accusing those who devour widows' 



264 WOMEll Ot THI3 NEW l^ESTAMENT. 

houses, rob the widows and unprotected, and pray 
only for a pretense, and make long prayers only for 
a show outwardly. Then he speaks of the poor 
widow who had just given her two mites, and call- 
ing his disciples he bids them note ** this poor 
widow, " and by /ler act he gives the lesson. 

Then we have the widow with her dead son. And 
the Lord had compassion on this woman and said, 
'^ Weep not." And he gave back the human life to 
the son, and delivered him to his mother. Now we 
do not read that Jesus blamed any of the women. 
If they are wrong he asks them a question which 
makes them think before they can answer it. If they 
are wrong they see it by thi7tking over Jesus' question. 
To all the above women he shows great mercy, 
compassion, kindness, gentleness and certainly 
shows that He thinks them able and worthy to 
understand his teachings, which are spiritual and not 
carnal. What a surprise this must have been to 
the scribes and Pharisees ! 

*^ For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold 
upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' 
sake, his brother Philip's wife : for he had married 
her. 

'' For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful 
for thee to have thy brother's wife. 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 265 

^* Therefore Herodias had a quarrel against him, 
and would have killed him ; but she could not : 

*' For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a 
just man and an holy, and observed him : and when 
he heard him, he did many things, and heard him 
gladly. 

"And when a convenient day was come, that 
Herod on his birth-day made a supper to his lords, 
high captains, and chief estates of Galilee ; 

"And when the daughter of the said Herodias 
came in, and danced, and pleased Herod, and them 
that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, 
Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give // 
thee. 

" And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt 
ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my 
kingdom. 

" And she went forth, and said unto her mother. 
What shall I ask ? And she said, The head of John 
the Baptist. 

" And she came in straightway with haste unto 
the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give 
me, by and by, in a charger, the head of John the 
Baptist. 

" And the king was exceeding sorry ; yet for his 
oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, 
he would not reject her. 



2B6 Women of the kew tkstamsnt. 

'^ And immediately the king sent an executioner, 
and commanded his head to be brought : and he 
went and beheaded him in the prison ; 

^' And brought his head in a charger, and gave 
it to the damsel ; and the damsel gave it to her 
mother." 

'^Buta certain man named Ananias, with Sap- 
phira his wife, sold a possession. 

^^ And kept back/^r/ of the price, (his wife also 
being privy to it^ and brought a certain part, and 
laid it at the apostles' feet. 

*' But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled 
thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep 
back part of the price of the land ? 

" While it remained, was it not thine own ? and 
after it was sold, was it not in thine own power ? 
why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart ? 
thou hast not lied unto men but unto God. 

*^ And Ananias hearing these words, fell down 
and gave up the ghost. And great fear came on 
all them that heard these things. 

'^ And the young men arose, wound him up, and 
carried him out, and buried him. 

"• And it was about the space of three hours after, 
when his wife, not knowing what was done, came 
in. 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 267 

" And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether 
ye sold the land for so much ? And she said, Yea, 
for so much. 

*' Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have 
agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord ? 
behold the feet of them which have buried thy 
husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. 

*^ Then fell she down straightway at his feet, 
and yielded up the ghost. And the young men 
came in, and found her dead, and carrying //<fr forth, 
buried her by her husband." 

" And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, 
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife ? tempt- 
ing him. 

*^ And he answered and said unto them, What did 
Moses command you ? 

"And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of 
divorcement, and to put her away. 

*' And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the 
hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept : 

''But from the beginning of the creation, God 
made them male and female. 

'' For this cause vshall a man leave his father and 
mother, and cleave to his wife ; 

*' And they tvs^ain shall be one flesh : so then they 
are no more twain, but one flesh. 



268 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

m 

" What therefore God hath joined together, let 
not man put asunder. 

'' And in the house his disciples asked him again 
of the same ^natter. 

"And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put 
away his wife, and marry another, committeth 
adultery against her. 

"And if a woman shall put away her husband, 
and be married to another, she committeth adul- 
tery." 

" Saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, hav- 
ing no children, his brother shall marry his wife, 
and raise up seed unto his brother. 

" Now there were with us seven brethren : and 
the first, when he had married a wife, deceased ; 
and having no issue, left his wife unto his brother. 

" Likewise the second also, and the third, unto 
the seventh. 

" And last of all the woman died also. 

" Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall 
she be of the seven ? for they all had her. 

"Jesus answered and said unto them. Ye do err, 
not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 

" For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor 
are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God 
in heaven/' 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 269 

'' The Pharisees also came unto hinij tempting 
him, and saying mito him, Is it lawful for a man to 
put away his wife for every cause ? 

'^ And he answered and said unto them, Have ye 
not read, that he which made ^/lem at the beginning, 
made them male and female. 

^' And said, For this cause shall a man leave father 
and mother, and shall cleave to his wife : and they 
twain shall be one flesh ? 

** Wherefore they are no more twain, but one 
flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let 
not man put asunder. 

" They say unto him. Why did Moses then com- 
mand to give a writing of divorcement, and to put 
her away ? 

He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hard- 
ness of your hearts, suflEered you to put away your 
wives : but from the beginning it was not so. 

*' And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away 
his wife, except // de for fornication, and shall marry 
another, committeth adultery : and whoso marrieth 
her which is put away, doth commit adultery. 

*' His disciples say unto him, If the case of the 
man be so with /lis wife, it is not good to marry. 

" But he said unto them. All men cannot receive 
this saying, save f/iey to whom it is given. 

" For there are some eunuchs, which were so born 



270 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

from their mother's womb : and there are some 
eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men : and 
there be eunuchs, which have made themselves 
eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that 
is able to receive //, let him receive //." 

" There is difference also between a wife and a 
virgin. The unmarried woman careth for the things 
of the Lord, that she may be holy, both in body and 
in spirit : but she that is married, careth for the 
things of the world, how she may please her hus- 
band. 

''And this I speak for your own profit ; not that I 
may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is 
comely, . . . . " 

'' So then he that giveth her in marriage doeth 
well ; but he that giveth her not in marriage doeth 
better. 

" The wife is bound by the law as long as her hus- 
band liveth ; but if her husband be dead, she is at 
liberty to be married to whom she will ; only in the 
Lord. 

*' But she is happier if she so abide, after my 
judgment : and I think also that I have the Spirit 
of God.'' 

The above is so plain any one can understand it : 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 



271 



adultery, with all its hideous consequences ; the 
anger of the woman against John, for being told 
that she was living in sin ; the trick she played on 
Herod with whom she sinned, by making him kill 
John the Baptist, and she used her daughter to 
charm this crime from the king. Are there any 
adultresses in these days who would be pleased to 
have the head of their accuser brought to them ? 
It is the head of their own conscience which they 
must cut off. 

Here we have the distressing story of a woman ; 
equal, but equal in wickedness to a man. They 
both lied, and lied in the worst way, for they lied 
to God, wanting the Apostles to believe that they 
gave all the money for which they sold the land. 
They did not wish them to know^ that they kept 
back part of it. They w^ere told they had done 
a foolish and wicked thing : sinned against God. 
The land was theirs, they sold it of their own free 
will ; the money they sold it for was their own, no 
one forced them to give it, or retain it. 

The lesson is very plain to us all ; and if we are 
true in secret things to God, we w411 do well ; for we 
cannot be untrue in secret things without God 
knowing it. 

Now we have the question of divorce, and Jesus' 
words are very plain. In the beginning God made 



272 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, 

them equal, male and female ; and to the men, Jesus 
very plainly says, '' for the hardness of your heart, 
Moses wrote you this precept/' Then he says what 
no one can twist into any other meaning. '' Whoso- 
ever shall put away his wife, and marry another, 
committeth adultery against her, and if a woman 
shall put away her husband, and be married to 
another, she committeth adultery." 

Now, these men who "think after death they are 
to have wives, are no better than the followers of 
Mohammed. They could not rise to any higher bliss 
for the future than having wives. Jesus tells them 
they do not know the Scriptures. They had no 
idea of their souls, no spiritual thought, no spiritual 
joys. How hard it was for the Saviour to raise the 
minds of these men from carnal things I We have 
here what they thought of women — one woman to 
bear children for seven men. No other use, and 
this they thought was her duty. 

Then we have again the question of divorce and 
Christ's plain words about it. He gives the one reason 
why it could be granted, and very plainly tells them 
who are guilty of adultery. Then Jesus tells them 
that all cannot understand or live the single life ; 
those who of their own free will do so, have one 
reason, ** the kingdom of heaven's sake," that all are 
not able to understand this. These words of Jesus 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 273 

come directly after what he has said about adultery 
and divorce. 

Then we have the difference between the married 
and unmarried woman. These words the apostle 
speaks, and he very plainly tells us that she who 
does not get married cares for the things of the 
Lord, both in body and spirit, and does better than 
she who marries. 

There can be no doubt about the early Christians 
believing that a single life was following the teach- 
ings of Jesus, as single life in those days was thought 
to be a curse or punishment or disgrace. Christ 
came to do away with those old ideas and raise 
mankind to a higher level, above earthly things. 
The life of the soul is worth more than the life of 
the body, and what they thought to be a disgrace he 
told them was an honor, above the understanding 
of most men and women. 

'' Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named 
Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas ; 
this woman was full of good works and alms-deeds 
which she did. 

" And it came to pass in those days, that she was 
sick, and died : whom when they had washed, they 
laid her in an upper chamber. 

^'. And forasmuch as Lydda was nigh to Joppa, and 



274 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they 
sent unto him two men desiring him that he would 
not delay to come to them. 

** Then Peter arose, and went with them. When 
he was come, they brought him into the upper 
chamber : and all the widows stood by him weeping, 
and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas 
made, while she was with them. 

** But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down, 
and prayed, and turning him to the body, said, 
Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes : and when 
she saw Peter, she sat up. 

*'And he gave her /^/> hand, and lifted her up; 
and when he had called the saints and widows, he 
presented her alive. 

** And it was known throughout all Joppa : and 
many believed in the Lord." 

'' I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a 
servant of the church which is at Cenchrea : 

^* That ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh 
saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business 
she hath need of you : for she hath been avSuccourer 
of many, and of myself also. 

*' Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ 
Jesus : 

^' Who have for my life laid down their owij n^cks ; 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 275 

unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the 
churches of the Gentiles. 

" Likewise ^r^(f/ the church that is in their house. 
Salute my well-beloved Epenetus, who is the first- 
fruits of Achaia unto Christ. 

*' Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us. 

'^Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and 
my fellow-prisoners, who are of note among the 
apostles, who also were in Christ before me. 

'' Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord. 

*^ Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys 
my beloved. 

" Salute Apelles approved in Christ. Salute them 
which are of Aristobulus' household, 

^' Salute Herodion my kinsman. Greet them that 
be of the household of Narcissus, which are in the 
Lord. 

'^ Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour 
in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which 
laboured much in the Lord. 

*' Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother 
and mine. 

*' Salute Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermas, Patrobas, 
Hermes, and the brethren which are with them. 

'* Salute Philologus and Julia, Nereus, and his 



276 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are 
with them." 

" Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of 
Onesiphorus. 

'* Erastus abode at Corinth : but Trophimus have 
I left at Miletum sick. 

*^ Do thy diligence to come before winter. 
Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and 
Claudia, and all the brethren." 

^*When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith 
that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother 
Lois, and thy mother Eunice ; and I am persuaded 
that in thee also. 

*' Wherefore I put thee in remembrance, that 
thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the 
putting on of my hands." 

*^To Timothy, 7ny dearly beloved son: Grace, 
mercy, ^;^^ peace, from God the Father and Christ 
Jesus our Lord. 

^' I thank God whom I serve." 

" And on the sabbath we went out of the city by 
a river side^ where prayer was wont to be made ; 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 277 

and we sat down, and spake unto the women which 
resorted thither. 

*' And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of 
purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped 
God, heard us : whose heart the Lord opened, that 
she attended unto the things which were spoken of 
Paul. 

^' And when she was baptized, and her household, 
she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be 
faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide 
there. And she constrained us." 

First, we here have a woman, Tabitha, who 
passed her time doing good works and helping the 
poor, who when she died was brought back to life 
by St. Peter. We are told where she lived and that as 
she was known by ma7iy through her good deeds, she 
w^as the means, when brought back to life, of mak- 
ing many believe m the Lord. 

Phehe : in the ministry : commended for that reason, 
a servant of the church. St. Paul calls himself a 
servant of the church, which means in the ministry. 
They were to assist her in whatsoever business she 
hath need of. Here is a list of women in the ministry 
in those early Christian days: Priscilla — the churches 
thank her, and she has a church in her house. Greet 
Mary, she bestowed much labor. 



278 WOMEN OV THE KEW TESTAMENT. 

Priscilla was the wife of Aquila. They had been 
driven from Rome by Claudius. They accompan- 
ied Paul a little and afterwards instructed Apollos 
of Alexandria. Then the mother of Rufus — salute 
her. Salute Julia, and the sister of Hermes, and 
Claudia. Here are many women spoken of by 
Paul. They were equal in the church even in 
those days. 

*^ O Timothy, my dearly beloved son ;" he had 
great and true faith and he got it from his mother 
Eunice and grandmother Lois — a good inheritance 
from good women. Does a woman know that she can 
give her child, and by the child give the grandchild, 
faith in Christ. Not only do you give them health 
in their bodies but health in their souls, or ill-health 
for their bodies and ill-health for their souls ; and 
this is the punishment for your sins. As long as 
the suffering caused by both body and soul lasts in 
the world, you will suffer it ; for those who die are 
followed by their works. 

Lydia^ a seller of purple, in those days a rich 
trade. She was rich, she was baptized with her 
household and she received in her house the Apos- 
tles. They were poor and travelling. 

"According to the custom of the priest's office, 



WOMEK Of THfi NEW TESTAMi^Nt. 270 

his lot was to burn incense when he went into the 
temple of the Lord. 

" And the whole multitude of the people were 
pra^ang without at the time of incense. 

*^ And there appeared unto him an angel of the 
Lord, standing on the right side of the altar of 
incense. 

" And when Zacharias saw him^ he was troubled, 
and fear fell upon him. 

"But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacha- 
rias : for thy prayer is heard ; and thy wife Elisa- 
beth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his 
name John. 

** And thou shalt have joy and gladness, and 
many shall rejoice at his birth. 

" For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, 
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink ; and 
he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from 
his mother's womb. 

** And many of the children of Israel shall he 
turn to the Lord their God. 

**And he shall go before him in the spirit and 
power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to 
the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of 
the just ; to make ready a people prepared for the 
Lord. 

*'And Zacharias said unto the angel. Whereby 



280 WOMEN 01^ THI2 ISfEW TI^STA^MEI^T*. 

shall I know this ? for I am an old man, and my 
wife well stricken in years. 

"And the angel answering, saiid unto him, I am 
Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God ; and am 
sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these 
glad tidings. 

'^ And behold, thou shalt b^ dumb, and not able 
to speak, until the day that these thing shall be per- 
formed, because thou believest not my words, which 
shall be fulfilled in their season. 

** And the people waited for Zacharias, and mar- 
velled that he tarried so long in the temple. 

** And when he came out, he could not speak 
unto them : and they perceived that he had seen a 
vision in the temple ; for he beckoned unto them 
and remained speechless. 

*' And it came to pass, that as soon as the days of 
his ministration were accomplished, he departed to 
his own house." 

" There was in the days of Herod the king of 
Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the 
course of Abia : and his wife was of the daughters 
of Aaron, and her name 7vas Elisabeth. 

'' And they were both righteous before God, 
walking in all the commandments and ordinances of 
the Lord blameless. 



Women of tu^ new TESTAMENt. 281 

'* And they had no child, because that Elisabeth 
was barren ; and they both were now well stricken 
in years." 

*' And after those days his wife . Elisabeth con- 
ceived, and hid herself five ttionths, saying, 

*' Thus hath the Lord dealt with rile in the day^ 
wherein he looked on me^ to take away my reproach 
among men." 

" And all went to be taxed, every one into his 
own city. 

*' And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of 
the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of 
David, which is called Bethlehem, (because he was 
of the house and lineage of David,) 

" To be taxed with Mary his espoused w^ife, being 
great with child. 

" And so it was, that while they were there, the 
days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 
• *^ And she brought forth her first-born son, and 
wrapped him in swaddling-clothes, and laid him in 
a manger ; because there was no room for them in 
the inn." 

" And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was 
sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Naza- 
reth, 



282 Women oi!' the New T£sTA.MENt. 

*^ To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was 
Joseph, of the house of David ; and the virgin's 
name was Mary. 

" And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, 
thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee ; 
blessed art thou among women.'* 

*' And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the 
daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser : she 
was of a great age, and had lived with an hus- 
band seven years from her virginity ; 

*' And she was a widow of about fourscore and 
four years, which departed not from the temple, 
but served God with fastings and prayers night and 
day. 

*^ And she coming in that instant, gave thanks 
likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all 
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem/' 

What was the prayer of Zacharias ? not for a son 
I think, since he believed not what the angel told 
him. But the answer to the prayer was this : ** Thy 
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt 
call his name John, and many of the children 
of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God/' He 
was to have the spirit and power of Elias, and make 
ready a people prepared for the Lord, those pre- 



"Wome:n' of the kew testament. 283 

pared to receive Christ. John was to make them 
ready, prepared, that is expectant. Elisabeth (a 
woman) was the mother of this prophet, greater than 
all prophets ; and she was of the daughters of Aaron, 
that is of the family of priests ; therefore she knew 
and expected Christ to come to this earth. She was 
righteous before God, walking in all the command- 
ments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. Men 
in those days reproached women if they had no 
children. Then we come to the Virgin Mary, of 
whom we have written on another page. 

Then Anna : some think she was the mother cf 
the Virgin. She was the daughter of Phanuel, the 
tribe of Aser. She was very old, and served God 
with fastings and prayers night and day. She lived 
to see and know Jesus Christ. 

The Second Epistle of JOHN. 

*' I He exhorteth a certain honourable matro7i, with her 
children,, to persevere in Christian love and belief,^ 8 lest 
they lose the reward of their former prof ession : lo and 
to have nothing to do zuith those seducers that bring not 
the true doctrine of Christ Jesus. 

" The elder tmto the elect lady, and her children, 
whom I love in the truth ; and not I only, but also 
all they that have known the truth ; 



284 WOMI^K OV THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

*' For the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, and 
shall be with us for ever. 

^^ Grace be with you, mercy and peace from God 
the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Son of the Father, in truth and love. 

*' I rejoiced greatly, that I found of thy children 
walking in truth, as we have received a command- 
ment from the Father. 

*' And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I 
wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that 
which we had from the beginning, that we love one 
another. 

**And this is love, that we walk after his com- 
mandments. This is the commandment, That, as 
ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk 
in. 

*' For many deceivers are entered into the world, 
who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the 
flesh. This is a deceiver, and an'antichrist. 

*'Look to yourselves, that we lose not those 
things which we have wrought, but that we receive 
a full reward. 

" Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in 
the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abid- 
eth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the 
Father and the Son. 

*'If there come any unto you, and bring not this 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 285 

doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither 
bid him God speed : 

^' For he that biddeth him God speed, is partaker 
of his evil deeds. 

** Having man}'- things to write unto you, I would 
not write with paper and ink : but I trust to come 
unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may 
be full. 

'^ The children of thy elect sister greet thee. 
Amen." 

Here we have one whole Epistle addressed to a 
woman. We are told that she was elect ; also her 
children ; and that all who knew the Truth loved 
her, because she also knew the Truth. This Truth, 
which she had, dwells in us, and shall be with us for- 
ever. That is the Holy Spirit sent by the Lord 
Jesus Christ to dwell within those who know^ the 
Truth. St. John sends this woman grace, mercy, and 
peace from God. And he rejoiced because he found 
the children of this wo7nan walking (living) in the 
Truth, following the commandments of God. And 
the love St. John speaks of, is in the true meaning of 
the word; that is, to obey God's commandments. 

He tells her '* Look to yourselves, that we lose 
not the things we have wrought ; but that \ve 
jeceiv^ a full rew^ard." Thej, then^ w^ere to have a 



286 WOMEN OF THE JnTEW TESTAMENT. 

reward of the good they had done, also they were 
not to receive an evil person or to have anything 
to do with evil, by themselves or through another. 
Another woman is spoken of as being also elect, and 
having good children. 

Here is a woman worthy even in those days of 
being mentioned in an Epistle, and offered to us 
and to all the world as an example worthy to be 
followed. A lesson to all mothers to bring up their 
children in the fear and love of Truth, and to know 
and follow Christ. 

^* And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magda- 
lene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had 
bought sweet spices, that they might come and 
anoint him. 

*^ And very early in the morning, the first day of 
the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising 
of the sun : 

" And they said among themselves, Who shall roll 
us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ? 

*' (And when they looked, they saw that the stone 
was rolled away,) for it was very great. 

'' And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a 
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a 
long white garment ; and they were affrighted. 

'^ And he saith uoito tbeni, Be jiot affrighted ; je 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 287 

seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was cnicified : he 
is risen ; he is not here : behold the place where 
they laid him. 

"But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter, 
that he goeth before you into Galilee : there shall 
ye see him, as he said imto you. 

^' And they went out quickly, and fled from the 
sepulchre ; for they trembled, and were amazed : 
neither said they anything to any man; for they 
were afraid.'* 

"' Now when Jesus was risen early, the first day of 
the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out 
of whom he had cast seven devils. 

'' And she went and told them that had been with 
him, as they mourned and wept. 

** And they, when they had heard that he was 
alive, and had been seen of her, believed not." 

" In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn 
toward the first day of the week, came Mary Mag- 
dalene, and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 

** And behold, there was a great earthquake : for 
the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and 
came and rolled back the stone from the door and 
sat upon it. 

'* His countenance was like lightning, and his rai- 
m^nt white as snow. 



288 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 

"And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and 
became as dead men. 

**And the angel answered and said unto the 
women, Fear not ye : for I know that ye seek 
Jesus, that was crucified. 

** He is not here : for he is risen, as he said. 
Come, see the place where the Lord lay. 

'' And go quickly, and tell his disciples, that he 
is risen from the dead, and behold, he goeth before 
you into Galilee ; there shall ye see him : lo, I have 
told you. 

" And they departed quickly from the sepulchre, 
with fear and great joy ; and did run to bring his 
disciples word. 

" And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, 
Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came, 
and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 

'' Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid : go 
tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee, and there 
shall they see me." 

"And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other 
Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre." 

"And many women were there (beholding afar 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 289 

off) which followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering 
unto him ; 

'* Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary 
the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of 
Zebedee 's children/' 

" Now upon the first day of the week, very early 
in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre 
bringing the spices which they had prepared, and 
certain others with them. 

^^ And they found the stone rolled away from the 
sepulchre. 

*^ And they entered in, and found not the body of 
the Lord Jesus. 

** And it came to pass, as they were much per- 
plexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them 
in shining garments. 

*' And as they were afraid, and bowed down their 
faces to the earth, they said unto them., Why seek 
ye the living among the dead ? 

** He is not here, but is risen. Remember how 
he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 

*' Saying, the Son of man must be delivered into 
the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the 
third day rise again. 

*' And they remembered his words, 



290 WOMEN OF TFIE NEW TESTAMENT. 

^' And returned from the sepulchre, and told all 
these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 

" It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary 
f/ie 7nother of James, and other women that were with 
them, which told these things unto the apostles. 

*' And their words seemed to them as idle tales, 
and they believed them not." 

" But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weep- 
ing : and as she wept she stooped down and looked into 
the sepulchre, 

^' And seeth two angels in white, sitting, the one 
at the head, and the other at the feet, where the 
body of Jesus had lain. 

" And they say unto her. Woman, why weepest 
thou ? She saith unto them, Because they have 
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him. 

'' And when she had thus said, she turned herself 
back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it 
was Jesus. 

*' Jesus saith unto her. Woman, why weepest 
thou ? whom seekest thou 1 She, supposing him to 
be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have 
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, 
iand I will take him away. 

"Jesus $aith unto her, Mary. She turned herself 



WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. 291 

and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to say 
Master. 

*' Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not : for I am 
not yet ascended to my father : but go to my breth- 
ren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father 
and your Father, and to my God and your God. 

'* Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples 
that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken 
these things unto her.'* 

*' The first day of the week cometh Mary Magda- 
lene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, 
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepul- 
chre. 

*^ Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, 
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and 
saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord 
out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they 
have laid him." 

Mary Magdalene, a woman of Magdala in Galilee. 
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (the four gospels) 
all speak of her. She is mentioned first here as 
bringing with the other women spices to anoint 
Jesus early in the morning. She and the others 
entered the sepulchre, and to the women the angel 
gave the message to be given to Peter and the dis- 



292 WOMEN OF THE NEW TESTAMENT 

ciples. It was to Mary Magdalene that Jesus first 
appeared after he had risen. He had pardoned and 
cured Mary Magdalene of seven faults which 
amounted to sins. She told the disciples (men) 
that she had seen Jesus, and they believed her not. 
She was only a woma7t, they were men. These 
women were told by the angel not to fear. Why ? 
Because the}' sought Jesus. Which we can do now, 
and if sincerely, we are not to fear. This is a great 
honor to women. Christ appeared and spoke first to 
them, before he spoke to the men ; the message was 
sent by women to men. 

They understood Jesus, then, better than the 
men. Do they not do so now ? Women stood very 
low in the world's opinion then. What thought the 
disciples then, "" all men, who had been with Jesus 
all through his ministry," that women, weak and 
ignorant, were the first that Jesus appeared to after 
he rose from the dead. 

This was the most important thing in Christ's 
birth and death. He had conquered death. He 
had died in his human nature, as a ransom for all 
human nature. We who believe in his double 
nature understand this. He had now risen in his 
Divine nature, which so triumphed over his human 
nature that his flesh '' saw not corruption." 

The spark of divinity within us is not strong 



WOMEN" OF TIJlii NEW TESTAMENT. 293 

enough to keep our human nature from corruption 
in death. We rise a spiritual body, and we do that, 
we think, at our death, the death of our natural body. 
But to return to Mary Magdalene. She, a woman, 
was the first to hear this great truth, and to give it to 
the men, and through men and women to the world. 
Here is the message from the angel : " Go, tell the 
disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead and 
that he will meet them in Galilee." From Jesus: 
'* Go, tell my brethren, that they go into Galilee and 
there shall they see me. Go to my brethren and 
say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your 
Father, and to my God and your God." 

Now, we read that before Mary Magdalene was 
fit to receive this great honor from Christ, to under- 
stand the redemption and be trusted with the mes- 
sage to the world, Christ had cured her of seven 
sins. We all have natural sins, and by trying our- 
selves by the Bible, we can find out what they 
are. You cannot understand spiritual things but 
by the Spirit. Carnal things are understood by car- 
nal nature ; so says the Bible. Therefore, if we have 
a mental sin, use the right remedies to cure it ; if a 
natural sin, use the right remedies to cure that. Go 
to an honest, intelligent woman doctor, and be cured 
in an honest way. By both remedies you will 
understand the life and death of Christ. You will 



294 WOMEK OF THE KEW TESTAMENT. 

see and understand spiritual things. How purified 
this woman was, for out of her were cast seven sins ; 
the seven senses which can all run into sin. Ungovern- 
ed, unwatched by our parents when we are children, 
b}^ ourselves when we are women, this battle within 
ourselves never ceases. This woman ungoverned, 
tmtrained had let her senses run into sin. If in all 
her senses she was purified by Christ, and she knew 
it, how ready she was to understand that Christ had 
risen from the dead ! She followed him through that 
perilous time of his death ; she could not doubt, for 
had not Christ purified all her senses? She was a 
spiritual woman — a redeemed and living soul now, 
and this account is a great help to all sinning 
women. In these days you cannot be ignorant, 
that if you will you can conquer your senses and 
not be a slave to them. If you are a slave to them 
you yourself are to blame. If you love to have it 
so, you must take the consequences. They will 
be sure to be evil to you, sooner or later, no matter 
how small they may seem to you now. 



BOOK X. 



SONGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE. 

[295J 



SONGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE. 



Then Judith began to sing this thanksgiving in 
all Israel, and all the people sang after her this song 
of praise: 

" And Judith said \ Begin unto my God with tim- 
brels, sing unto my Lord with cymbals, tune unto 
him a new psalm, exalt him, and call upon his 
name. 

"For God breaketh the battles, for amongst the 
camps in the midst of the people, he hath delivered 
me out of the hands of them that persecuted me. 

" Assur came out of the mountains from the north, 
he came with ten thousands of his army, the multi- 
tude whereof stopped the torrents, and their horse- 
men have covered the hills. 

" He bragged that he would burn up my borders, 
and kill my young men with the sword, and dash 
the sucking children against the ground, and make 
male infants as a prey, and my virgins as a spoil. 

*'But the Almighty Lord hath disappointed them 
by the hand of a woman. 

" For the mighty one did not fall by the young 

[297] 



29S ^ONGS OF rim women ov tftk eibLe. 

men, neither did the sons of the Titans smite him, 
nor high giants sit upon him ; but Jijdith the 
daughter of Mecari. 

*' Then my afflicted shouted for joy, and my weak 
one said aloud ; but they were astonished, they 
lifted up their voices, but they were overthrown. I 
will sing unto God a new song. Oh Lord, thou art 
great and glorious, wonderful in strength and invin- 
cible. 

" Let all creatures serve thee, for thou spakest, and 
they were made, thou didst send forth f/iy spirit, and 
it created than^ and there is none that can resist thy 
voice. 

*'For the mountains shall be moved from their 
foundations with the waters, the rocks shall melt 
as wax at thy presence, yet thou art merciful to 
them that fear thee. 

'' For all sacrifice is too little for a sweet savour 
unto thee, for he that feareth the Lord is great at 
all times." 



gOKaS OF THE WOMEK OF THF BIBLE. ^90 



THE SONG OF HANNAH, THE MOTHER 
OF SAMUEL. 

And Hannah said : 

*'My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is 
exalted in the Lord, my mouth is enlarged over 
my enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. 

There is none Holy as the Lord, for there is none 
beside thee, neither is there any rock like our God. 

'^ Talk no more so exceeding proudly, let not arro- 
gancy come out of your mouth, for the Lord is a God 
of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 

'^ The bows of the mighty men are broken, and 
they that stumbled are girded with strength, they 
that were well have hired out themselves for bread, 
and they that were hungry ceased, so that the bar- 
ren hath borne seven ; and she that hath many chil- 
dren is waxed feeble. 

" The Lord killeth, and maketh alive, he bringeth 
down to the grave, and bringeth up. 

'^He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lift- 
eth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them 
among princes, and to make them inherit the throne 
of glory ; for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's 
and he hath set the world upon them. 

'' He Vv'ill keep the feet of his saints, and the 



300 SONOS OF THE WOMEIST 01?* THE BIBLE. 

wicked shall be silent in darkness ; for by strength 
shall no man prevail. 

" The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to 
pieces, out of heaven shall be thunder upon them. 
The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he 
shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn 
of his anointed.'* 



THE SONG OP MIRIAM. 

** And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, 
took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went 
out after her with timbrels and with dances. 

*' And Miriam answered them : Sing ye to the 
Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously ; the horse 
and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.'' 

THE SONG OF DEBORAH, 

" Then sang Deborah : Praise ye the Lord for the 
avenging of Israel. I, even I, will sing unto the 
Lord ; I will sing praise to the Lord God of Israel. 
The inhabitants of the villages ceased, they ceased 
in Israel, until that I, Deborah, arose, that I arose 
a mother in Israel. [This mother in Israel does 
not mean a mother of children, but is the same as 
we say that Washington was the father of his coun- 
try. A mother in Israel is a mother of her country, 



SOXGS OF THE WOMEN OF THE BIBLE. 301 

having saved it from the enemy, who would have 
utterly killed it.J Awake, awake Deborah, awake, 
awake, titter a song; arise. The Lord made me 
have dominion over the mighty. O my soul, 
thou hast trodden down strength. Blessed above 
women shall Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite be, 
blessed shall she be above women in the tent." 

This woman, by God's wisdom, saved her coun- 
try ; she was the instrument and she gave God the 
praise. 

SONG OF THE VIRGIN MARY. 

^* My soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit 
hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For He hath 
regarded the low estate of his handmaid, for behold 
from henceforth all generations shall call me 
blessed. 

" For He that is mighty hath done me great things 
and holy is His name, and His mercy is on them 
that fear Him from generation to generation. He 
hath showed strength with His arm, He hath scat- 
tered WiQ proud vsi the imagination of their heart. He 
hath put down the mighty from their seats, and 
exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the 
hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent 
empty away. He hath holpen his servant Israel. 



BOOK XI 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

[303] 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 



A COUNTRY CHURCH. 

August^ 1 89 1. 
We were at church this morning. The clergy ;;^a;^ in 
his sermon said that the answer to prayers returned 
on those who prayed, to the individual, that all 
prayer was in a certain way selfish : the soul that 
prayed, prayed for itself. Now, we were very much 
pleased to see that this 7nan thought as we did 
though he did not not think just what we were 
thinking, which was this : The congregation was 
made up of women. We saw but three men in the 
congregation, so that the answer to all those church 
prayers, if sent at all, was sent to the women, and 
would certainly make them fit to teach and to 
preach by the mighty spirit of God, in a word, to be 
ministers in God's church. In this same sermon 
the Clergyman said, " Who was it that gave praise to 
Christ ?" He mentioned several men in the Bible, 
but not one woman, and yet it was a woman above 
.all women who praised God : " My soul doth mag- 
nify the Lord," and the rest of this grand praise 

1305] 



r>06 THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

given to God. It was her soul, by the spirit of God, 
that gave this praise and thanks. 

The women in this congregation prayed these 
prayers: ^* Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are 
open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets 
are hid, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the 
inspiration of thy Holy Spirit^ that we may per- 
fectly love thee and worthily magnify thy holy name^ 
through Christ our Lord, Amen.*' The women, to 
each commandment, prayed, ** Lord have mercy 
upon us and incline our hearts to keep this law." 
They, then, are helped to keep the ten command- 
ments. " Accept our alms and oblations, receive 
these our prayers, inspire continually the universal 
church with the spirit of truth, unity and concord ; 
dispose the hearts of all Christian rulers, that they 
may truly and impartially administer justice to the 
punishment of vice, the maintenance of virtue. 
Give grace to all bishops and other ministers, that 
they may set forth thy true word and rightl}'- admin- 
ister the Holy Sacraments to all people; give thy 
heavenly grace to this congregation here present [the 
congregation were all but three of them wo7nen\ 
that they may hear and receive the wordy And they 
(the women) prayed that this might be all granted to 
them^ for Jesus Chri§t'3 s^ke our onlj mediator. 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 307 

THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

IT IS THE WOMEN WHO PRAY. 

In church to-day, when two of our beautiful 
prayers were read by the clergyman, and followed 
closely/;^ our heart and mind, as our voiceless spirit 
prayed before our God in heaven, who is a spirit, 
this idea came to us in this prayer : "• Almighty and 
everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and 
perfect gift, send down upon our bishops, and 
other clergy, and upon the congregations committed 
to their charge^ the healthful spirit of thy grace, and 
that they may truly please thee, /^^/r upon them the 
continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for 
the honor of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus 
Christ, Amen." 

First, the congregations are made up of women, (one 
or two men only are found in any congregation in 
churches) therefore the blessing prayed for, for our 
bishops, is prayed for in the hearts and spirits of 
women. If the blessing comes to the bishops, it is i7i 
answer to the praj^'ers of women. Also, to the other 
clergy, and this means clergy of all Christian deno7?i- 
inations. Now, the congregations of women have for 
years (centuries we may say) prayed for some such 
^blessing as our praver asks for the women : ** Th^ 



308 THE FUAYEK-BOOK. 

healthful spirit of thy grace ; that they [the women] 
may truly please Thee, pour upon them [the women] 
the continual dew of thy blessing." If this prayer is 
answered, which we believe it to be, the women can 
not go wrong if they become ministers in the 
church. They have a healthful spirit ; and if the 
prayer is answered, they cannot fail to please God, 
for this blessing has been poured on them (the 
women) like a continual dew. Now, some good and 
great result must come to the congregations of 
women wJio pray for these things, and they have 
asked it for the honor of their Advocate and Media- 
tor, Jesus Christ. 

Then, in the prayer for all conditions of men. It 
is the women who pray in the churches, and in this 
prayer they pray for all sorts and conditions of men. 
They ask that men may know God's ways ; perhaps 
some jnen have come to this k-nowledge through the 
prayers of the women. They (the w^omen) also 
pray for nations, for the holy church, for those in 
any way afflicted or distressed ; these are the prayers 
of the women. 

In the general Thanksgiving, the women ^for 
they are the congregation) pray, or give thanks to 
God, for His goodness to them (the womeji) and to all 
7?ien, and they (the women) beseech God to help 
thena to show forth II 13 praise^ and to give them- 



TSE PKAYEii-BOOlt. 309 

selves to His service, and to walk before Him in 
holiness and righteousness all their days. Now, are 
they not fit to be ministers in God's Church, where 
they show forth His praise, and where they give 
themselves to His service ? And in the Collect for 
Peace, the women (they are the congregation) pray, 
" Defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our 
enemies (the men), that we (the w^omen who are pray- 
ing in the churches) surely trusting in thy defence, 
may not fear the power of any adversaries (the men) 
through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord ;" and as 
God has promised that where two or three are 
gathered together in His name He will grant their 
requests, He will fulfill the desires and petitions of 
His servants (the Women) as may be most expedient 
for them. Granting them what ? the knowledge of 
His truth while they are in the world, and in the 
world to come life everlasting. 

Now, if God grants to these women, who ask for 
truth in His Churches from their souls and hearts, 
are they not to minister in the churches and teach 
the truth of which God has given them tJie knowledge. 

Now, a pure virgin, who has given her life to the 
study of this knowledge of truth — a single woman^ 
living in prayer and good works, ordained to the 
ministry — is certainly a fit person to declare the ab- 
solution, or remission of sins, to those who are peni- 



810 THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

tent, and who truly repent. The churches are filled, 
the absolution declared; but God, who alone sees into 
the heart and mind of all, can alone know who the 
absolution truly descends upon. It is the women 
who pray for *^ holy desires, good counsels, and that 
their hearts may be set to obey the commandments, 
and that being defended from the fear of our 
enemies (the men) we may pass our time in rest 
and quietness. And defend us from all perils and 
dangers of this night.*' 

And all this is granted when two or three are 
gathered together in God's name ! 

And who are those gathered together in God's 
name in the churches but the women ? And God has 
promised to grant their requests. It is so we pray in 
the churches. A woman among women, we pray for 
ourself and women. 

Now, God does not despise the sighing of a con- 
trite heart, nor the desire of such as are sorrowful. 
Who are sorrowful, who sigh of a broken heart, but 
women ? He will therefore mercifully assist us in 
our prayers, which we make in our troubles and 
adversities. 

''That those evils which the craft and subtilty 
of the devil (or man) worketh against us (the 
women) may be brought to nought, that we (the 
women) may be hurt by no persecutions/' 



THE l^RATER-BOOK. 311 

The women, also, pray, *' Mercifully look upon 
our infirmities, turn from us all evils, give us con- 
fidence in thy mercy," and they (the women) thank 
and bless God for the redemption of the world by 
the Lord Jesus Christ, for the means of grace, and 
for the hope of glory. 

It is the women who pray for congress, for rain, for 
fair weather, in time of dearth and famine, in 
time of war and tumults, for those who are to be 
admitted into holy orders. So far only men are 
admitted ; so they here pray for the men. In a 
short time there will be women who are to be 
admitted into holy orders. It is the women who 
pray in time of great sickness and mortality for 
a sick person, for a sick child, for a person or per- 
sons going to sea, for a person under affliction, for 
malefactors. It is the women who give thanks- 
givings for women after child-birth, for rain, for 
fair weather, for plenty, for peace, for deliverance 
from our enemies, for restoring public peace at home, 
for deliverance from great sickness and mortality 
for a recovery from sickness, for a safe return from 
sea. 

If these prayers are answered, the answer is to 
the women, for it is they who pray. 

It is the women who ask God to give them grace 
to cast away darkness, and pray for light, now, in 



812 l^HE 1>RAYER-B00K. 

this mortal life. If it is granted, it is the women 
who pray who receive it . Fit, then, are they to be in 
the ministry, for they have the /tg/if to teach them. 

It is the-w^men who believe that the holy scriptures 
were written for their learning, and who pray that 
they tnay read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest 
them, and that by patience and by the comfort of 
God's word they may ever hold fast the blessed 
hope of everlasting life. It is the women who pray 
and it should be for the women in the ministry, and 
the women who should be the stewards of God's 
mysteries, and who should, and who do, prepare 
and make ready God's way, and who are able 
to turn the hearts of the disobedient to the wisdom 
of the just. It is the women w/io j^ray, "O Lord, 
raise up, we pray thee, thy power ; and come among 
us [the women], and with great might succor us, as we 
are hindered in running the race that is set before 
us [we are hindered by the men]; may Thy grace 
and mercy speedily help and deliver us." It is the 
women who pray, and with good reason, " Al- 
mighty God, who hast given us thy only begotten 
son, to take our nature upon him, and to be born of 
dipure virgin, grant that we, being made thy children 
by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by 
thy Holy Spirit." It is the women who pray, '' Grant 
that our hearts and all our members, being morti- 



THE FRAYER-BOOK. 313 

fied from all worldly and carnal lusts, we may in 
all things obey thy blessed will." This prayer 
being answered to those who pray, may explain 
why women in the mass are purer than the men, 
free from carnal lusts and worldly lusts, and obey 
God's will. It is the women who pray, *^ Grant 
that we^ who know thee tiow hj faith, may after this 
life have the fruition of thy glorious Godhead." It 
is the women who pray God to receive these prayers 
of thy people (women) who call upon thee, and 
grant us to perceive and know what things we ought 
to do, and to have power to do the same, and who 
pray for God's peace all the days of their lives. It 
is the women who pray God to be merciful to their 
infirmities, and in all \he,\x: dangers and necessities ^i^X^ 
and defend them. It is the women who pray, '' O 
God, who knowest us to be in the midst of many 
and great dangers, that by reason of the frailty of 
our nature we cannot always stand upright, grant 
tcs such strength and protection as may support us 
in all dangers, and carry us through all temptations." 
Those who pray receive the answer ; so women pass 
through temptations and dangers when men fail 
and fall. It is the women who pray that the Church 
may be kept in true religion ; why, then, are they not 
to be in the ministry of the church, when their 
prayers keep the Church in the true religion ? It is 



314 THE PRAYEK-BOOK. 

the women who pray, ** Grant that we may purify 
ourselves as Christ is pure, and when Christ shall 
appear again with power and great glory, we may 
be like unto him in his eternal and glorious king- 
dom." It is the women who pray, ** Favorably hear 
us, that we, who are justly punished for our offences, 
maybe mercifully delivered." It is the women who 
pray, " O God, who seest that we put not our trust in 
anything that we do, grant that by Thy power we may 
be defended against all adversity." It is the women 
who pray for the excellent gift of charity, and this 
prayer has been answered to the women in abun- 
dance. 

It is the women who pray, '^Almighty and everlast- 
ing God, who sent thy Son to suffer dealh, that all 
mankind shovild follow the example of his great humil- 
ity, grant that we may follow the example of His 
patience. Grant, O Lord, that as we are baptized 
into the death of thy Son, our Saviour, so by con- 
tinually mortifying our corrupt affections we may be 
buried with him, and pass to our joyful resurrection 
for His merits. Put in our minds good desires so by thy 
help we may bring the same to good effect. Grant 
us to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness 
that we may always serve Thee in pureness of living 
and truth ; grant that we may daily endeavor to 
follow the steps of the holy life of Jesus Christ, 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 315 

Almighty God, who showest to them that are in 
error the light of thy truth ; so that they may 
return into the way of righteousness." It is the 
women who for many years have filled all churches 
and prayed this prayer. To them, then, will the 
prayer be granted ; and it is the women who will 
receive the light of God's truth, and by that light, 
will show God to them who are now in error. 

It is the women who pray for new and contrite 
hearts, that they may obtain mercy and forgiveness, 
and who pray for those who confess their sins, that 
they may be absolved. It is the women who pray 
that they may use abstinence and that the flesh may 
be subdued by the Spirit, and that they may ever 
obey godly emotions, in true holiness. It is the 
women who pray, *' O God, who seest that we have 
no power of ourselves to help ourselves, keep us 
outw^ardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls ^ 
that we maybe defended from all adversities which 
may happen to the body, and from all willful 
thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul.*' God 
grant this prayer may always be answered. It is 
the women who pray, " Stretch forth the right hand 
of thy majesty to be our defense against all enemies; 
grant that we, who for our evil deeds do worthily 
deserve to be punished, by the comfort of thy grace 
may mercifully be relieved through our Lord and 



316 THE l*EAtES-=:feOOit. 

Saviour Jesus Christ. Mercifully look upon thy 
people, that by thy great goodness they may be 
governed and preserved ever77iore^ both in body and 
soul." 

It is the women who pray, ^' O God, who alone 
canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful 
men, grant that they may love the things which 
thou commandest and desire that which thou dost 
promise, that so among the sundry and manifold 
changes of the world, our hearts may surely 
there be fixed, where true joys are to be found. 
Grant that by thy holy inspiration we may think 
those things that are good^ and by thy guiding may 
perform the same; vSend to us thine Holy Ghost to 
comfort us. Grant us by thy Holy Spirit to have a 
right judgment in all things'' (It is the women who 
ask for this right judgment in all things. If this 
prayer is granted it is to those who ask it, there- 
fore w^omen should have a right judgment in all 
thi?2gs.) They pray, '^ Keep us steadfast in faith and 
defend us from adversities. O God, the strength of all 
who put their trust in thee, mercifully accept our 
prayers, and because through the weakness of our 
mortal nature we can do no good thing without 
thee, grant us thy help, that in keeping thy com- 
mandments we may please thee, both in will and 
deed.*' 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 317 

It is the women who pray, " O God, the protector 
of all that trust in thee, without whom nothing is 
strong, nothing is holy, increase thy mercy and be 
our guide, so that we may pass through things tem- 
poral, so as not to lose things eternal. Grant that 
the course of this world may be so peaceably 
ordered by thy governance. [Here the women 
pray for the governance of the world ; surely they 
should know how to sfovern and order the thino^s of 
this world, and it is the women who believe that God 
has prepared for those who love Him such good 
things as pass man's understanding ^ Give us the 
increase of faith, hope and charity, and that we may 
obtain that which thou dost promise ; make us to 
love that which thou dost command. Keep, O Lord, 
thy church with thy perpetual mercy, and because 
the frailty of man without thee cannot but fall, keep 
ns from all things hurtful, and lead us to all things 
profitable." It is women who fill the churches ; 
it is the women, therefore, who pray this prayer : 
'' O Lord, let thy continual pity cleanse and de- 
fend thy Church." Now, does our church need 
cleansing? Why do doubts and unbeliefs arise all 
around us ? If the women pray to have this 
changed, to them will be given the power to do so. 
If the men have failed to cleanse and govern the 
churches, to preach and teach the truth, the Spirit 



318 THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

of God will go to the women, and through them 
guide all into the truth. Grant thy people grace 
to withstand the temptations of the world, the flesh 
and the devil. 

The women still pray, '' O Lord, we beseech Thee 
absolve thy people from their offences ; and stir up, 
we beseech thee, the ivills of thy faithful people. 
Grant unto us all, that we, being called by thy holy 
word, may forthwith give up ourselves obediently 
to fulfill thy holy commandments. Grant that we, 
forsaking all worldly and carnal affections, may be 
evermore ready to follow thy holy command- 
ments. Grant unto thy Church to love the Word, 
and BOTH TO preach and receive the same." 

It is the women who pray this prayer, therefore 
as they make up the Church, being members there- 
of, they should preach. 

The women pray, '' Almighty God, who calledst 
Luke the Fhysida?i, whose praise is in the Gospel, to 
be an Evangelist and Physician of the soul." (See 
how closely the cure of the body is to the cure of 
the soul. Christ called Luke the Physician, to be a 
disciple. The diseases of the body must be cured 
or prevented before you can cure the soul. Sin 
then causes disease, and must be cured if you will 
have the pure anql wholesome soul and body. 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 319 

Women should have women physicians, and men, 
men physicians. *^ Grant that we may be joined to- 
gether in unity of spirit, that we {the women) may be 
made a holy temple acceptable tmto thee. Grant that 
we may so follow thy blessed saints in all virtuous liv- 
ing, that we may come to those unspeakable joys 
which thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly 
love thee. We beseech thee, to direct, sanctify and goi^- 
ern both our hearts and bodies, in the ways of thy laws, 
and in the works oi thy commandments, that through 
\}cvY mighty protection, both here and ever, we may be 
preserved in body and soul." 

It is the women who pray, '* We acknowledge 
and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, which 
we have committed by thought^ word and deed 
against thee. We do earnestly repent, and are 
heartily sorry ; have mercy upon us, and forgive us 
all that is past." 

To those who pray the forgiveness comes. Who, 
then, pray ? The women. And they ask all this to 
be given to them through Jesus Christ our Lord, to 
be granted for His sake. 

Now, we have tried to show you, how for years and 
years the women who fill the churches have prayed 
— the answer to prayer must descend on the one who 
prays — and as Crod alon^ can see into the heart 



320 TPIE PKAYEK-BOOK. 

and mind and soul of her who prays — to these 
sincere women must come the blessing. As the 
men have left the churches, and those who are our 
guides therein seem to be losing their power to 
guide, it is now time that our young women should 
study for the ministry. Alas ! would that we had 
the money to found and endow a woman's college 
to train them for the ministry. We would have them 
understand that no married woijian could teach and 
preach in a church. The young girls who come 
must understand that we do not forbid marriage. 
As soon as she knows that she is not master enough 
of herself to fight the battle which comes to all 
women ; that the disease called passion is stronger 
than herself — will not permit her to give her soul 
and body to the study of Hol}^ things ; then let her 
leave the college of ministry, and marry. What 
she has learned there will return to her mind some 
future day, will be sure to guide her through her 
life, and do her and her children untold good. But 
our college must follow Jesus Christ. He blessed 
with his presence the marriage ; but he has plainly 
told us if we are His, — he has given us the example 
of his life on this earth, — our spirits must hold our 
bodies, our minds cannot be free on spiritual things, 
unless free from emotions of the body. We 
do not think anything plainer in the New Testa- 



TIIK PRA.YER-BOOK. 321 

tnent than this. The spirit alone knows the spiritual 
things. All are not called to this high state ; but 
those who would teach and guide in spiritual 
things must rise above passion and marriage. It 
was so understood by Christ's followers. As much 
as perfect selfsacrifice Christ's life must be fol- 
lowed, totally clear of any self-seeking. Did He 
have the praise of others ? Were not his rewards on 
earth sufferings inflicted by men ? Do not the best 
of religions on this earth and at all times teach the 
same thing ? Vestals, virgins, ask any woman, 
physician, or any honest person, if it is possible for 
you to apply your mind unto wisdom, above all, 
spiritual, mental wisdom, if you give way to the 
disease called passion. You are in unsound mind, 
as well as unsound body. We would not force 
any girl to give up marriage ; but we know that 
there are hundreds of girls who do not wish to get 
married, who care for none of those things, who, 
even if they wish it, will never marry — lovely and 
charming as they may be. Men always marry for 
fortunes. A girl cannot have a free choice. They 
are taught that they also must marry money ; if 
they do not succeed, ^^ tant pis " for them. 

Now, girls, are you going to lose your chance in 
life of making a true^ happy life for yourself .^ You 
are individuals ; you may some day be left singu- 



322 THE PRAYER-BOOK. 

larly alone in the world, with your battle to fight. You 
will feel and know that youth does not last always ; 
and when gone, if every one is not against you, still 
no one will care for you. Get a profession, and be so 
independent that you can map out your lives with 
wisdom and knowledge. The Ministry is coming to 
you in this changing time on earth. Into your hands 
come truth^ purity^ knowledge^ to keep^ to preachy to 
teach, to live, before the whole world. '* Quit you 
like Christians, Have your lamps trimmed and 
burning.'* 

SOME RULES FOR OUR WOMEN CLERGY. 

These are only our ideas on the subject ; experi- 
ence will work out many good rules for our young 
women who will study for the ministry. We would 
say, have some age set, when a girl should enter the 
college. Have no vows for a single life, but make it 
a rule that no married woman can enter into the 
study for the ministry, and no girl engaged to be 
married. Both the married and engaged are hypno- 
tized — their minds cannot be given to spiritual 
things if both mind and body is not wholly in their 
own keeping and perfectly free from the natural 
feelings which both married and engaged to be 
married would give them. Have a given number 



THE rKAYEK-BOOi:. 323^ 

of years for the study, allowing the girl or woman 
to leave at any time, if she finds she has made a 
mistake in taking up the study ; fill her place at 
once with another girl. The knowledge the girl 
gains makes her a better wife, or business woman, 
and will be a great gain to the world at large and 
worth the cost of the short study. A girl who goes 
through the whole study should serve as a minis- 
ter a given number of years, and then, if she wills 
it, leave the ministry — or remain. Have no com- 
pulsion. 

Of one thing w^e are very sure, w^hich is this : No 
married woman should be in the ministry. The 
vSpirit is clogged by the flesh — that animal part of 
us which we get from our forefathers and which 
they got from Satan in brute disguise. Christ has 
shown us that to fully understand spiritual things 
and teach them, we must be as He was when He 
lived on earth. So, in our college for the ministr}^ 
have no compulsion, but make it like a soldier's 
duty, w^ho receives the education, owes to the world 
so many years given in teaching others for the min- 
istry. Spiritual things will only gain spiritual 
things in this world when given as Christ gavQ 
them. 



324 THE PKAYER-BOOK, 



MARRIAGE. 

In our woman's state and woman's church, we hope 
one thing will be. changed in the prayer-book, in the 
form of solemnization of matrimony. Why make the 
woman take a vow before God, and before the con- 
gregation, which in nine cases out of ten is a per- 
jury. ** To love :" love is a divine thing, and has 
been once, and once only on this earth ; it lived in 
the Saviour Jesus Christ ; it gave its life in the 
body for us, it lives in heaven now for us. Does 
an)^ woman so love the man she marries until 
death ? Does she give her life, for the eternal life of 
the man ? *' Cherish " means to support, to shelter, 
to treat with tenderness, to nourish, the treatment 
that a child and not a man should receive. ** And 
to obey.*' This last is almost wicked. No woman 
should vow to obey any one but her God. If she fol- 
lowed this out, she might be forced to commit 
crimes and sin against her God, sin against her 
soul, sin against her children, sin against the world, 
and say to her God in the judgment : ** I am not 
responsible for all the sins I committed, for I took a 
sacred vow that I would obey the man I married." 
The last, *' mitil death us do j^art^' needs no comment 
in these days. 



THE PRAYER-BOOK. 826 



WOMEN IN THE MINISTRY. 

We have tried to show how the Episcopal Church 
owes its spiritual life to the women, who for years 
filled the churches and did the true heart and earn- 
est praying, using the beautiful prayers of our 
prayer-book. If we believe in the answer to prayer, 
let me ask whose prayers were they in the churches 
filled with women ? Who did the work in the Sun- 
day schools ? the work among the poor ? the prayers 
at home in the closet in secret ? Who believed in 
earnest in Christ and His teachings ? 

Apostolic succession is spiritual not physical. It 
was St. Paul who said, ** There is neither male or 
female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." If St. 
Paul, who was so hard on the women of his day, said 
that much, he understood that the Spirit of God was 
in women as well as men. In spiritual things a 
woman is stronger than a man, and apostolic suc- 
cession is spiritual. Besides, who in these days will 
say *' a woman shall not teach ?'* 



APPEAL TO WOMEN OP THE WORLD. 

In my study of the women of the Bible, and in 
what I have written, I have tried to show what 
women are capable of being and doing. I beg all 
women to study the subject. Up to this day, ser- 
mons have been preached, but never about the 
women of the Bible, it has always been the men of 
the Bible, the lessons their lives have taught us, 
and the truths which Christ gave to them (the men); 
and yet, if you look into the Bible, you will see much, 
very much about the lives of the women, and the 
lessons which their lives teach ; and you will be 
surprised to see how many of the most precious 
truths Christ gave to women. If women had not 
been repressed by men Christianity would to-day be 
stronger and far more spread over the earth. We 
have not been much better off than the women 
of unchristian nations, not even the women of 
Japan. In a book on the subject I read that in 
Japan the natives think that education for girls 
makes them unwomanly. Many in our own land still 
think the same in regard to our Christian girls. It 



APPEAL I'O WoMKN OB' THE WORLD. o27 

is only very lately that this idea of education is 
changing ; but the new idea is obliged to struggle 
even to get a foothold in the minds of Christian 
people. Education, it is said, will but aggravate the 
trouble of the Japanese women to a point beyond 
endurance. No evil is ever done away with until 
education does make the evil of ignorance beyond 
endurance. When it reaches that point the remedy 
is sought for. When no remedy is thought to be 
possible, the evil goes on and is endured. Oh, ignor- 
ance, ignorance ! what have you done for the women 
on this earth ? We are told, with all your getting, 
get understandings get knowledge. Love God with your 
mind, and if Christ thought that women were able to 
receive and understand the divine truths which he 
taught on this earth, why is it that women, instead of 
teaching these truths, have become weak enough to 
submit to be taught by men the things which it is 
theirs to teach ? 

Oh, woman I whom Christ has honored by taking 
his human body from a woman, to whom He taught 
the truths of heaven when he was here on earth, to 
whom He said, *' I that speak unto you am He," 
(when he answered woman when questioned upon 
this subject by men); to whom He first appeared 
after His resurrection, and by whom He sent the 
message of his resurrection to the men, his disciples. 



o28 KNOWLEDGE FROM THE BIBLi:. 

Oh, women ! if Christ thought you able to advance in 
knowledge and truth and holy lives, to be of great 
good to this earth, how is it that Satan has kept you 
back in all these things ? Shake off the bondage of 
the flesh inherited from Satan, and so govern your 
bodies by your souls from heaven that it may 
increase, and the desires from Satan may decrease, 
until the soul conquers. 



KNOWLEDGE FROM THE BIBLE. 

FsalmsxcYv. lo. " He that teacheth man knowledge, shall 
not he know ?" 

Solomon asked for wisdom and knowledge. 

Proverbs. *' Wise men lay up knowledge." 

" Knowledge is easy to him that understandeth." 

" He that hath knowledge spareth words." 

*' A man of knowledge increaseth strength." 

Daniel. "God gave them knowledge." 

" Knowledge shall be increased." 

Habakkuk. '' For the earth shall be filled with the 
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea." 

Hosea. *' My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. 
Because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject 
thee." 



KNOWLEDGE FROM THE BIBLE. 329 

S/, Licke, ** Woe unto you, ye have taken away the key 
of knowledge." 

Romans. ** Zeal not according to knowledge. 

Colossia7is, *' The mystery of God and of the Father and 
of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge." 

Timothy. Our Saviour, who will have all men to be 
saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 

Hebrews, ** For if we sin willfully after that we have 
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no 
more sacrifice for sin." 

Peter. *' Add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowl- 
edge." 

" Grow in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ." 

All these tell us to get knowledge, the sin of 
ignorance, the use and blessing of knowledge. Who 
then should keep us in ignorance, if God commands 
us to get knowledge, and to put it to a good use ? 



TO THE READER. 



And now, Reader, I am going to say farewell. I 
do not ask you to believe as I do, as I think that 
all intelligent persons must decide the question of 
religious belief for themselves. I feel that I have 
only done my duty by giving these thoughts to the 
world, and declaring that Christ is my Lord and 
Master. 

Do not say that I have said^ what I have not said ; 
do not willfully misunderstand me ; do not make 
pictures of animal bodies with human heads or the 
reverse, for that is a worn-out trick. 

If you have no animal instincts within you, and 
think that you are a direct descendant of an 
angel, and if this is so, why, so much the better for 
this world, and for you, Reader ; for you will be a 
model for all to follow, and the world will be 
blessed by your living in it, for then you will do no 
evil, but will by nature do God's will the same as 
it is done in heaven. However, you know better 
than I do what your inward nature in the flesh 
truly is. If you have no battle to fight within, 



To THE REAl)ER. 331 

happy are you. You have no reason to say, 
"When I would do good, evil is within me/' 

I£ you think it would have been better had I left 
this book to be published after my death, let me tell 
you that it is better to do what you wish done before 
you die. Do I hear you say that I might have left 
money to have it published after my death ? I 
answer, I could not be certain that the money 
would be so used. Do you still say, why do I give 
my name so plainly ? My answer is, I am not 
ashamed of doing so, nor am I afraid of the conse- 
quences. Ridicule, evil report, misunderstand- 
ing, I fear not, for I have done my duty to my 
God. 

Do I hear you say, How could I have the courage 
to write and give my thoughts to the world ? My 
answer is this : In what other way could I give my 
thoughts to the world ? I know that there are 
many strong men in the Church of Christ, strong in 
body and mind, and that some men boast of the 
strength of their minds, and that I am only a weak 
ignorant woman. Nevertheless, I have a soul, and 
my soul is loyal to Christ. A woman is not permitted 
to speak in a church, or give her thoughts to the 
world in that way ; but in these days when the 
world has attacked Christ, if the men have not the 
courage openly to defend Christ, when they have all 



332 TO THE READER. 

the advantages of knowledge, learning, colleges, 
libraries, training in church matters, new ideas given 
to them by God, then I, a woman deprived of all 
those advantages, dare^ by my loyalty to Christ, my 
gratitude to Christ, my courage and faith in Christ, 
yes, I dare write, have printed and give to the world 
my thoughts. 



NOTE. 



ORIGIN OF A FAMOUS PRAYER. 

" A characteristic mistake was recently commit- 
ted by two renowned Jewish scholars in Paris, 
James Darmestetter and Grand Rabbi Zadok Kahn. 
The former discovered lately a fragment of a Par- 
see prayer in the Zend language : * I thank thee, O 
Creator of light, for having made me of the blessed 
race of the Aryans ! I thank thee, O Ormuzd, for 
having made me a free man and not a slave ! I 
thank thee, O God of light, for having made me a 
man and not a woman.' Of course, any one famil- 
iar with the Jewish liturgy must be struck with the 
resemblance of these three prayers to the three 
recited b}^ the pious Jew every morning from the 
Prayer-book : ' Be blessed, O Lord, that thou didst 
not make me a heathen ! ' * Be blessed, O 
Lord, that thou didst not make me a slave !' 
Be blessed, O Lord, that thou didst not make 
me a woman !' Leaving it to the apologetic wri- 
ters to defend this rather ungenerous and imgal- 
lant attitude of the devout worshipper, we are 
chiefly concerned with the question, where the 
originator of these three peculiar prayers is to be 
sought ? On the Jewish or on the Persian side ? 
Professor Darmestetter, the Zend-scholar, found 
the language to point to the third or fourth century, 
and Grand Rabbi Kahn being to him authority 
enough for ascribing the Jewish prayers in accord- 
ance with the Talmud (Menachoth 43b) to R. Meir 



334 NOTE. 

of the second century. He therefore, believes that 
the Parsees adopted these formulas from the Jews 
and altered them to suit their own view. 

" How strange that Diogenes Laertius, a Greek 
writer of the second century, in his ' Lives of 
Philosophers,' quotes an older Greek author that 
*Thales/ the first Greek philosopher, and some say 
that Socrates used to thank the goddess of for- 
tune for three things : First of all, that he had 
been born a man and not a beast ; secondly, that 
he was a man and not a woman, and thirdly, that 
he was a Greek and not a barbarian.' (Thales, ch. 
vii.) These three prayers, then, must have been 
quite common among certain philosophical schools 
long before the Christian Era, and the question is 
only whether these philosophers or preceptors, the 
Oriental sages, the Magi, the pupils of Zoroaster 
and the like, originated them. The probability is 
that the latter did, since the Pythagoreans derived 
many of their practices from them. The Jewish 
sages, then, must have also copied them from the 
Zoroastrians. And we are in the fortunate position 
to be able to prove that these same formulas were 
familiar to the Jews in the time of Jesus. For it 
can only be in reference to these three benedictions 
of the synagogal liturgy that Paul writes to the 
Galatians (iii. 28) — '* There is neither Jew nor 
Greek, there is neither bondman nor free, there is 
neither man nor woman, for ye are all one in the 
Messiah Jesus, and through him Abraham's seed 
and heirs according to the promise.' It is of inter- 
est to note that the almost identical expression 
regarding the Holy Spirit, that 4t rests alike on 
Jew or Gentile, on man and woman, on male slave 
or female slave, if the person but lives in full 
accordance with the dictates of the spirit ' is found 
in the mystic — or Essene — work ascribed to Elisha 
the prophet. The sentiment, implied in the one 



NOTE. 335 

benediction, of disregard of woman's claim com- 
pared with man's, certainly is the outcome of asce- 
ticism, and both Jesus (John iv. 27) and the Rab- 
binical sages endeavored to countera'ct it. 

*' At any rate, the origin of these prayers is far 
older than was assumed by James Darmestetter and 
Zadok Kahn. — Rev, Dr, K, Kohler in the Menorah for 
Julyr 



/ 






